Use Your Illusion
by moment forever faded
Summary: As Rachel's friend and school mate, Elise Conway, moves back to Gotham, she is kidnapped by the Joker as a ploy to get to Rachel and various other key players in the Joker's game to take over Gotham. Set during 'The Dark Knight.'
1. Chapter One

Illusions

Use Your Illusion

By Leah Rajchel

Chapter One;

She had no clue how long she had been there. From what Elise could see, the room she was in was windowless. Oh, what did she know? It was pitch black since she was awoken just a few minutes ago. Or had it been hours? Darkness cared nothing for time, apparently. In the dark, Elise attempted to stand up and feel her way around, much like a cat could do with its whiskers. The only obstacle, much to her disappointment and fear, was that she was bound, ankle and wrist. The fact that she was so confined made Elise sick to her stomach. She began to panic even more when she realized there was a thick layer of tape over her mouth, preventing her from screaming. Hot, salty tears began to flood all around the perimeter of both of her green eyes. Her sudden panic left Elise feeling vulnerable and weak. She was a recent graduate of the psychology program at one of the most prodigious universities in the country; Elise knew she had to calm herself down or the whole situation would go entirely down hill from that point on.

Suddenly, a flood of light took over the entire room. Automatically, Elise shut her eyes tight, attempting to block out the pain the new light caused her unfamiliar eyes. She then heard a noise that made her heart drop: the thick steel door swung open. From the other side, a group of men, with their faces covered in cheap clown masks, ran sporadically into the room with guns. Elise forced herself to open her eyes and face the music – or, rather, the light. The glaring, artificial light made Elise's emerald eyes water quickly with their intensity and the fact that she feared her own life was at stake didn't help that matter either. She fearfully watched as the group of ten men divided into those of five, assembling on either side of her. She felt the bile in her stomach begin to rise as they cocked their menacing semi-automatic weapons at her from all angles.

_'Does it really look like I'm going anywhere!?' _Elise's mind screaming internally. Clearly she was not and even if she could, she was sensible enough to know she wasn't going to get very with ten semi-automatic weapon holders surrounding her, ready to go trigger hungry at her first wrong move. It was a move Elise wasn't planning on making. A slow, mocking cackle awoke Elise from her terrifying thoughts into even more threatening, blood-curdling ones. With her eyes now wide and focused, Elise concentrated on the shadow getting larger and larger at the base of the massive door frame. Moments later, a tall and looming figure emerged from Elise's left side, the form filling most of the length of the door. The man was clothed from head to toe in a combination of purple and green, minus his face and bottomless eyes, which were covered in white, red and black. The whirlpool of colors that seemed at one point so beautiful to the petite young woman now filled her senses with dread and fear. The colors also confirmed to Elise whose hands her life was in now. And the knowledge made her feel ten times more weak and afraid than before.

The makeshift carved grin cut into Elise's brain from across the room as the Joker jeered in mocking joy, "Good morning, gorgeous!"


	2. Chapter Two

**I really must thank my reviewers. Everyone says their motivation is the fans. They certainly don't lie about that one. To keep everyone happy, I definitely will keep writing. Thanks again!**

Chapter Two;

At the Joker's frighteningly jolly greeting, Elise felt her hopes for getting out sink even lower, if that was possible. She had heard stories, sure. But after the Batman had taken down, the once untouchable, Carmine Falcone and stopped Gotham from destroying itself, Elise felt confident that she could move back into the city to work on taking the place of corrupt psychiatrist, Jonathan Crane. Elise was always stubborn and never tuned out what her heart and head told her. She also almost never regretted anything. This was one of those rare occasions. The Joker, again, shook her out of her thoughts, literally. Before Elise could even notice he had moved, the face-painted clown has inches in front of her. He picked her up by her shoulders as to straighten her out and sunk down to his knees to get eye to eye with the scared stiff Elise.

"What, no hello? No good morning to you?!" He was getting angry. Elise could tell by the way his hold on her shoulders tightened. But he knew there was tape covering her mouth. Even if she wanted to respond back to the killer, she couldn't. Eerily reading her thoughts, the Joker then added, "Oh, yeah. This might be a problem," referring to the tape over her mouth. Instantly, he grabbed for a corner of the tape and ripped it off her mouth. The moment the duct tape was off her skin, Elise yelped out. She could feel her lips and the skin around it burn as if it were on fire.

At the sound of her pain, the Joker burst in maniacal laughter, giggling in her face and motioning to his henchmen around him to laugh with him. When the laughter came uncertainly and timidly, the Joker's laugh immediately stopped. He turned towards the first masked clown to Elise's right, his semi-automatic still pointed to her. The thug's eyes, however, were shifting nervously towards the Joker. He then roughly grabbed the thug's face and forced him to look at him, muttering quietly, "Look at me, chap." Without taking his eyes off his henchman, the Joker grabbed the semi-automatic from his hands and turned it against him, pointing the barrel at the man's gut.

"What did I tell you when you first came into his job?" the Joker asked carefully, yet evilly. Elise knew what he was going to do; something to her own gut screamed at her the inevitable. When the now trembling man said nothing, the newly enraged Joker bellowed, "What did I tell you!?"

The anger shook the henchman into some sense as he slowly slurred out, "Do exactly as you say, boss."

The Joker shook his head in agreement and replied, "Ah yes, do exactly as I say. And did you laugh when I clearly motioned for all of you to laugh? Did you!?" Before the man had a chance to defend himself with either motions or words, the Joker let loose a round of bullets into the masked man's gut, bringing him to the ground in a matter of seconds.

Elise had shut her eyes tight, much like she had did when the light first came on. She could not sit and watch a man die simply because he wouldn't laugh because she was in pain. Now Elise couldn't control her trembling. When Rachel had told her that this man had robbed five banks and killed the entire group of henchman he had with them, she thought she was exaggerating the villain's cruelty and malice. Certainly nothing could have compared to the death and destruction she had seen not even six months prior. Bitterly, Elise laughed to herself.

_'No,'_ she thought, _'this is man doesn't even compare to what I've seen before. And I thought I had seen it all…'_

Suddenly, the Joker turned away from the lifeless man and knelt down next to her, grabbing a switchblade from out of his shoe. At the sight of the blade, Elise froze, itching closer to the wall as she possibly could. When she moved, the Joker filled closed in on the gap and whispered to her, "I'm a man of my word, Elise. Listen to me and you will be fine. Disobey me and well," he giggled crazily away from her ear, "You know what I'm capable of." In a strange twist of fate, the Joker, instead of hurting for acknowledging her own pain like Elise thought he was going to do, cut the bindings around her wrists and ankles.

Swallowing her fear and rubbing her wrists as she decided the words to say, Elise also decided that being a bitch wasn't going to get her anywhere. If she wanted to escape alive, she would have to work her way into the Joker's good graces, somehow. She knew she was going to hate herself for showing kindness to Gotham's most feared criminal, but Elise really didn't want her family and friends to find her at the bottom of the river or wherever he would put her if he decided to do her in like the man next to her.

"Thank you," she said quietly. All she got in response was a grunt as he motioned for his group of now nine men to round up the body of their dead comrade. So, she spoke again, "What do you want from me?"

Slowly, the Joker turned his head to her and grinned widely, showing his set of slightly yellowed teeth. He grabbed her roughly by the arms and pulled her up to stand. Elise felt like an ant compared to his man. He was somehow around six feet two inches tall, while Elise was always called "the midget," coming in at five foot four. He wrapped a purple gloved hand around the back her neck and began to press as he quietly asked the now slowly fading Elise, "Does it look like I have a plan, Ms. Conway?"

The last thing Elise heard before she completely blacked out was the seemingly never ending sound of the Joker's laughter. It seemed to stretch forever through her head, even as she completely faded away.


	3. Chapter Three

Illusions

**Thank you again, reviewers. To answer some questions, I do have this story labeled as a romance for a reason. It will not, thankfully, be a sappy soft story. In later chapters, Elise's character will get stronger and her past and present will come out. Thank you for reading! **

Chapter Three;

_Elise hurriedly packed her purse full of little accessories and threw anything she knew she would need into her midnight blue Corolla. She had been planning on moving back to Gotham since the end of last month; the waste of gas and time it took her to get to Arkham every morning wasn't worth it anymore. Plus, she hated being away from the only family she had left: her best friend Rachel Dawes and her uncle Jim and his family. From inside her purse, Elise heard her cell phone vibrate crazily. When she couldn't find it, she dumped its contents on the passenger seat of her car, finally catching glimpse of it. The caller ID said it was Rachel. _

_"Hey, you. What's going on?" Elise asked. _

_Rachel's calm, yet serious tone brought Elise to attention, "Elise, I really don't think you should come to Gotham right now. It's getting dangerous. That guy that your uncle told you about, the Joker? He just robbed another bank. A mob bank. It's not safe for you to come back, considering who was apprenticing you just a few months ago." _

_From the other line, Elise rolled her bright green eyes. Rachel was just six months older than her, but she always came off as the big sister figure that wanted to keep the wilder Elise out of trouble. The increasing number of news reports about the Joker frightened her a bit, yes, but she had grown up in Gotham almost all her life, only to move out when her boss, Doctor Jonathan Crane was discovered to play some role in the plot to destroy Gotham. But Elise knew herself better than anyone and certainly wouldn't let herself be corrupted by people who simply lusted after power. _

_"Rachel… thanks for looking out for me, but I've already paid for three months rent for my new apartment. I'm living right by you. And you don't have to remind me about Crane, I know what happened and he's still out there. If there's anything left in that once brilliant head of his, he'll know better than you get anywhere near me, considering who you are and considering who my uncle is," Elise tried her best her reassure her friend, "and look who's been protecting our streets since all that craziness a few months ago," she added reassuringly, referring to the caped crusader known as Batman. _

_A few second long pause came from Rachel's end of the conversation. She sighed and than spoke, "You're right, Elise. I guess I'm just worried that something might happen to you. You're one of the few good people in a position of power here, you know that."_

_Elise gave herself a crooked, cryptic grin. She knew she was up for taking Jonathan Crane's new job, head of Arkham Asylum. It would be an honor: she was only twenty four. But Elise also knew it would a handful, with all the new crazies that had been admitted a few months back. She knew better than to get her hopes up, but just being a candidate put her in some kind of battle with bad people. _

_"I'm just an assistant, Rach. That's all I do. I just happen to have a good head on my shoulders." _

_Rachel laughed, "Most of the time, at least. Well, I have to meet Harvey for lunch to discuss the briefs for the Maroni case. Call me when you get to the apartment and settled. You can properly meet Harvey."_

_"Yeah, it shouldn't take that long. All the furniture's in; just got to settle. Bye, Rach." With that, Elise shut her phone and threw everything back into her purse. She threw the purse onto the passenger seat and turned around. _

_Then everything went black._

Elise sat up and screamed. She had been knocked out cold for the second time in, well, she had no clue how long, but had dreamed. She was decently pleased to remember when and where she had been kidnapped. A sick feeling like the flu went to her stomach. Rachel must be worried sick; knowing Rachel and when she worries, she probably drove past Elise's house. Where her car should still be sitting. Elise sighed, defeated. There was nothing Elise could do for anybody, outside for herself, from here.

Suddenly, Elise looked around. She realized she was in a remotely comfortable place. The different atmosphere of the room she was in caught her attention, because it wasn't the same room. It was almost a bedroom. There was a twin sized bed, covered in white sheets. Adjacent to the bed was a bare nightstand with a small, industrial looking lamp. Clearly, there were windows in this room, but where the windows were, wooden planks thickly covered them. On opposite sides of the room, there were two doors. Eying both doors cautiously, Elise debated whether she should open them. She imagined one door having a bomb attached to if and saw it explode in her head if she tried to open it. The other door, Elise imagined, led straight to nowhere. Deciding not to try her luck, Elise pressed her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, cradling herself in a fetal position and waited. Waited to die. Waited to live. Waited for a sound. Waited for anything that could keep her will to survive up long enough to get out of, wherever she was, alive.

The unexpected swinging open of the door caused Elise to jump. One of the masked men from earlier strolled in, threw Elise's purse at her and stormed back out, slamming the door shut as he went. Distantly, she heard beeping. This convinced her that there was, indeed, a bomb on the other side of the door. Elise's bag landed to the left of her, where the contents poured out. Nervously rummaging through it, Elise found her cell phone, to her shock and wonder. _'This has to be a joke,' _she thought to herself, _'He wouldn't give you your phone. He's trying to trick you.'_

As if something was reading her thoughts, her Blackberry began to vibrate and sing the alert for a text message. On impulse, Elise read it. Upon reading it, she could feel her heart drop to the ground.

The message read, "Your names and numbers have been blocked. If you attempt to make or accept any phone calls or messages besides my own, you will die. Some people say they couldn't live without their phones. Let's make you my own social experiment, Elise. HAHAHA."

Broken and afraid, Elise threw her phone across the room, where it slid on the carpeted floor. What the Joker was trying to do was torture her, making her believe she was so close to getting some connection to the outside world and then pulling her back. It was torture, knowing her link was there on the floor and that she would die if she tried. It was torture, and she knew he was savoring every second.

**This is a background chapter. I promise our Joker will be in the flesh the next chapter. Thank you! **


	4. Chapter Four

**Again, I have to thank the reviewers, for everything. Also, I will add just for the record, that anything you see in my stories that you may have seen before, is not mine. Thank you and happy reading. **

Chapter Four;

She found nothing to do in the near-barren room in which she was locked. Elise was smart enough to know that the Joker had put her in this specific room to test her and it took everything she had to keep herself from pulling away the wooden planks, opening the door next to it, the entering door or making a phone call, perhaps even all four. However, she was also intelligent enough to know that she would be digging her own grave if she did any of the above. Calming herself down, Elise brought her knees down to cross them into a pretzel shape in front of her. She knew her only hope of getting out was to keep positive, although she had to admit that that would be a bit difficult, judging by whom her captor was.

As if on cue, the door of Elise's room flew open, revealing the Joker. He looked decently pleased at the sight of Elise's tear-stained face and puffy red eyes. She felt ashamed, being looked at up and down by this madman. The last thing she wanted was for him to see her fear and her weakness. But for some reason, she had a feeling he had sensed her fear since the moment she awoke, after being knocked out the first time. Grinning like a mad Cheshire, the Joker asked, "Have a nice snooze, Sleeping Beauty?" then proceeded to laugh hysterically. Elise recoiled at the inquiry; sadists like the man in front of her made her sick. When she signed up to be a psych major, Elise never imagined she would have such one on one experience with a true psychopath.

Like a lunging cat on the prowl, the Joker suddenly pounced in front of Elise, grabbing her by the throat and pinned her small body down on the bed. The attack caught Elise so off caught that she couldn't catch her breath and the heavy, strong hand pressing down on her throat was helping. She began to choke and her sensitive eyes watered at the lack of air.

"Do you know what I hate most of all, Elise?" he asked her, almost desperately. As much as she could, Elise shook her mop of auburn red hair, trying to fight for her life. The Joker continued, "I hate people without manners," he smacked his lips, "I was just trying to have a friendly conversation, Elise. I just wanted to ask you how you slept, that's all. And you, you little fiend, can't even respond!"

Elise took his opportunity, as her eyes began to water over, to fight back. She threw her little legs back and leg them go directly at his gut. But the Joker was quick. He released his iron hold on her throat and stopped Elise's legs in their tracks. He quickly maneuvered them against his hip and held them there with his right arm. He then threw back his purple over coat-like article, revealing six ready-to-use bombs.

"Do _not_ blow this out of proportion, little Miss Elise," the Joker warned her, his voice low and guttural, "Or I will be rid of you," he jiggled the explosives threateningly by her legs.

She felt her body tremble. What wouldn't this man do instill fear into her? At that one moment, Elise didn't care.

"Oh, really?" she challenged, "If you want to 'be rid of me' so damn bad, why haven't you done it already?" As she spoke the words, Elise knew she should've kept her mouth shut tight. But she never could. Like a sharp, freezing gust of wind on a long winter night, the Joker's massive gloved hand came whipping over Elise's already pink-tinted cheeks. It stung like a thousand needles in her skin all at once: worse than her first tattoo, worst than the chicken pox shot. And Elise hated injections more than anything. Almost anything.

The Joker grabbed onto Elise's neck again and this time, he brought his body down onto hers. He brought his face dangerously close to Elise, as to be nose to nose. Elise could feel his warm breath on her face, an eccentric mix of mint and gasoline. _Naturally._

"I really do love a girl that's not afraid to fight back," he quietly murmured, "but don't expect to come out swinging when you do," he stuck his finger under her chin, forcing her head up to him.

Elise opened her green eyes to face his dark, wild brown ones. She replied back in the same tone of voice as he, "I'm not afraid of you," Elise hated to lie, for her trembling gave away her true feelings. But she didn't know what else to say. She wanted the six bombs, which were now gingerly resting against her body, to be off of her. So she spoke.

In an animalistic fashion, the looming figure of the Joker threw his head of green-hinted hair back and let out another round of surely infamous, crazy laughter. The haunting cackle filled the space and this time, Elise was not blacked out to hear it. It rang in one ear and out the other, in a circle, back and forth. It seemed to never end until the tip of his nose was touching hers again. "Yeahhhh… about that, Elise. You're not afraid of me, so you won't open that door," he pointed to the door he had walked in from about five minutes prior, "You're not afraid of me and that's why you won't make any calls to your dear old Lieutenant Uncle Gordon or little D.A. girlfriend."

So the Joker had done his homework. It all started to come together for her. Again, her body language gave her body: Elise had got stiff.

"Oohh, Elise, come on, now. Did you think I just took you off the street because I have that power? Nah nah nah. You're a little player in this game, my game. And let me tell you, darlin'. I _love_ games," he clapped his gloved hands together. Elise remained laying in the position he had left her. If only she could see her uncle and her best friend. If only…

"Oh, and one more thing Elise, before I go," his voice trailed and then he pursed his blood red lips together. He grabbed for Elise's throat for a third time and his time, she didn't fight back. He pulled her up to face him dead on and told her, "If you test me again, these won't be the only bruises on you," on that note, he sunk his lips down onto hers, violently.

Elise's eyes widened in disgust and she wanted more than anything to take a hot shower and stay in there for hours upon hours. Maybe that would wash off the guilt and dirtiness and disgust she felt lingered all over her body. Elise pulled her lips away and bit down hard on his bottom lip to get him off. It did the trick. The Joker took two steps back and put a finger where Elise had bitten down. As he pulled his index finger away, he raised an eyebrow at the result: apparently, Elise had made him bleed. Inside, it gave Elise a bit of satisfaction.

"I'll deal with you later for this, vicious. There are more pressing matters at the moment," with that said and done, the Joker turned on his heel and walked out the door, slamming it and locked it, respectively.

As soon as he was gone, Elise began to swipe aggressively at her lips, "What the hell," she muttered to herself. She began to then lick them as to clean them, but she only ended up tasting him. Her usually pretty face contorted into something ugly and repulsed, "Oh damn him, damn this, damn everything!" Elise muttered angrily. She wanted desperately to spit. Knowing she kept tissue in her purse, she pulled it out and attempt to be rid of the taste.

_"I cannot believe the most wanted serial killer in the country just kissed me,"_ Elise thought, enraged and utterly unnerved. She knew he was doing it to break her spirit and make her lose any confidence she had in herself. It scared her to know that he knew so much about her, her social life, her fears and whatever else he knew.

Elise fell back onto her back and turned over. She, again, brought her knees to her chest and there she stayed, doing the only thing she knew she could do. She prayed. She prayed for Rachel, for Uncle Jim, for Harvey and for the Batman. As the minutes passed into hours, Elise began to lose hope that anyone was going to find her.

She didn't want to sleep, so she kept the wheels in her mind turning.

**I was getting really worried; I was starting to get writer's block after the first few paragraphs. Luckily, I saved myself! Phew. Mm, yes if anyone is lost, this scene is parallel to the scene in the movie where the Joker goes off to negotiate with the two mob sectors. Just had to clarify. Review, if you want. Thank you!**


	5. Chapter Five

Illusions

**I'm getting pretty pumped on this story. Wow, I'm lame. Oh, well. I love it. Speaking of love, I'm seeing 'The Dark Knight' again in about an hour. Oh yeah. It'll be the fourth time. Well again, thank you for your reviews and encouragement; I wouldn't be able to do this without support. Happy reading!**

Chapter Five;

As much as Elise didn't want to sleep, she also didn't want to turn around to turn on the lamp next to the bed. It would be her only source of light in the room. She couldn't fight the growing heaviness on her eyes. It felt like there were little weights resting on them, forcing them to shut and also forcing Elise to succumb to sleep. Finally, the darkness overtook her and she slept a very broken, nightmare-ridden sleep for no more than two hours.

An unexpected sound brought Elise out from her doze and back to light. She turned her head wildly to find where the sound was coming from. A bright blue sporadic flash of light in the corner of the room danced with the sound.

Her phone was ringing. As if a new energy was restored to her, Elise hopped off the bed and fell to her knees on the carpeted floor, obtaining rug burn as she did, but she never felt that pain. The feeling of joy washed away almost as quickly as it came. In her fleeting feeling of hope, Elise had forgotten that the Joker had locked her phone and that she couldn't answer or make phone calls anyway. The name displayed on the blue screen made her heart feel like it weighed one hundred pounds: Rachel. Of course, underneath her name was the lock code box.

"Fuck!" Elise screamed. She dropped the phone and cradled her head in her hands. Then realization hit her. Elise knew that the lock code only contained four numbers, a number ranging from 0000 to 9999 and the Joker's code had to be one of those numbers. Filling with a new sense of purpose, she collected herself and picked her phone off the ground. Elise started to type in every number, starting at 9999 and going down. She knew it would take hours. She prayed that it was a number that would come soon, for her battery was on its last bar of power. She was surprised that it wasn't dead already. A few minutes later, Elise decided that her life couldn't get worse. A voice from the voice sang, "Goodbye!" as the screen of Elise's Blackberry turned black.

Elise muttered to herself, dropping the phone again and put her hands in the air in frustration, "I'm done. I'm done. I'm over this. I will get out, I will get out."

Much like she did when she first encountered the Joker, Elise pushed herself back against the wall and rested her head against it. She ran her short, lean fingers threw her hair and muttered, sadly, "Elise, you're not going anywhere."

When the door to her room opening swiftly twenty minutes later, Elise only opened her eyes and stared motionlessly at the two men marching towards her. Each one took a hold of her elbows, pulling her up roughly and practically dragged her by her feet.

One of the Joker's henchmen, perhaps the kinder of the two, explained, "The boss wants a word with you."

She wouldn't have thought any less of this event, seeing as she hadn't been taken out of the room before.

Elise halfheartedly took in the new surroundings she was being introduced to. The whole place resembled something industrial, like a warehouse or office building. Everything was monotonous, the same. She assumed this kind of environment was the easiest for the Joker to escape to, unnoticed but she also imagined he could do that anywhere, just add a few bullets into that mix.

In the midst of her thoughts, Elise felt the grasp of the two men being released and she quickly realized that she couldn't stand on her own. She flailed her right arm out, reaching for the wall next to her. She hadn't eaten in who knows how long and knew the physical tension she took wasn't helping, either. When Elise had caught her balance, she glanced up at where she had been dropped off at. She was standing in the doorway of steel curtained kitchen. Everything was glistening steel: the countertops, the oven, the walls, the sink, everything. The only thing standing in the center of all this was the Panasonic widescreen television and the Joker standing in front of it.

Elise imagined his "business" had gone well, for he was humming to himself and bobbing his head of stringy green tinted hair to his own tune. He presumably felt Elise's presence there, for he turned around and gleefully clapped his gloved hands together at the sight of her.

"Elise, my darling, what perfect timing. You're just icing on the cake of my day!" he practically skipped over to Elise, taking her by her wrist and pulled her over to the front of the television, "Watch what the TV has to tell you! You're gunna love, I know it." He stood behind her, with his hands on her shoulders, as if to keep her there.

_'As if I'm going anywhere,_' she thought bitterly.

So she watched. She watched as the five o'clock report shifted to a missing persons report. And what Elise saw next on the television made her heart sink even more and as she listened, she felt her fate dropping even deeper into the hands of the man standing directly behind her.

**Ah yes, cliffhanger I know. I just got back from a night out, my first since my car accident really and I just wanted to get the ideas in my head out. Not to fret, the story behind what Elise saw on the news will definitely be in chapter 6. Thank you!**


	6. Chapter Six

Illusions

**First and foremost, I have to thank those who wished me well after my car accident. You have no idea how much that means to me. And second of all, thank you for your great reviews and encouragement. I hope you again the next installment. And, as always, happy reading!**

Chapter Six;

The Joker's iron hold on Elise's tiny shoulders clamped on even tighter as a very familiar face graced the sixty inch flat screen television: her own. Gotham's evening news report informed her that she had been missing for five days and that her precious blue Corolla had been found, driven into the river.

Elise was flabbergasted. The five days, going on six, felt like two. Most likely this was because she was knocked out the majority of the time, but still. Her family and friends must be worried sick; clearly it was evident with Rachel calling and who knows who else had tried to get a hold of her. Elise realized that the Joker had probably answered the phone in a most likely successful attempt to mock the people who cared about her and the whole of the Gotham police force.

In a subconscious confirmation, another face came upon the screen. This time it was of her best friend, Rachel Dawes, a noted Gotham assistant district attorney. She was beautiful in real life and even more so on "the tube," as her Uncle Jim would jokingly call it. She stood in front of a podium that had Gotham's symbol mounded on the front of it. She was stern, serious and pleaded as she spoke, "Elise Conway is one of the most graceful, talented and good hearted people I know," to this statement, the Joker muttered, "Aww, what a precious thing to say!" and dug his fingers into her shoulders.

Elise winced as Rachel continued, "The Gotham PD and my offices are fully aware of the potential danger the Joker may put her into. Because of this possible danger, we are taking the biggest precautions and the biggest rewards possible for her safe return. For any information leading to her safe return, we will award the informant 100,000 upon her return," Rachel looked nervous. Elise observed that she bit her lip after speaking of a safe return. Elise knew that Rachel knew that Elise was probably not coming home safe, if she ever did come home.

Her uncle, Lieutenant Jim Gordon, stood to Rachel's right with his hands resting behind his back. He must've spoken already, for his eyes looked ready to give into tears behind his black rimmed glasses, as did Elise's. Jim Gordon and his family were the only family she had left after her parent's untimely death three years ago. She had always believed it had something to do with Carmine Falcone and her parent's crossing his lines, but that was never proven.

Before Elise realized it, the screen was black and Joker was now standing in front of her, his chocolate brown eyes boring into her clover greens. He began to quietly chuckle, leaving Elise perplexed. That was until she felt the cold, burning sensation of metal wrapping around her wrist. Elise looked to her captor with disbelieving eyes and looked immediately to her wrist. What Elise saw horrified her. The Joker had attached himself to her with handcuffs. She was also competent enough in bargains and baiting and criminality to know why, yet her crazy captor spelled it out for her anyway.

"It's not about the money, Elise. It's about sending a message!" he swung his arms up, leaving Elise no choice but it bring hers up as well, "Ever wondered how your policeman uncle and your lawyer girlfriend knew you were with me? I talked to them! They kept ringing for you and it was so… annoying, your buzzing little phone. And what did they try to do? Bribe me! Bribe me with money. Money, money, money. This whole world hangs themselves up dry on money. You can't buy my kind of power with the green," his face was close to Elise's, as it had been the previous night, "I don't want their money, Elise. I want _you_," the Joker licked the side of his scarred mouth as her spoke the words that made Elise flare up.

"Why do you want me?" she stuttered through her slightly parted lips. She was afraid of the answer and even more afraid that he would try to kiss her, yet again.

He shrugged dramatically, jerking Elise along with each motion, "You're sooo much fun, Elise, don't you know? You're a fighter, you're a tricky one and I suppose being easy on the eyes doesn't help," he clicked his tongue against the top of this mouth and smirked, laughing afterwards, "And the fact they try oh, _so hard_ to break me down to get to you just makes my game even more… riveting!"

Elise glared at him. She didn't take being complimented by a man who enjoyed blowing people up for sport very well. "So you need to cuff me to you because it's fun to play games with the people I care about?" It was a game Elise was sure she wouldn't win anytime soon, getting answers from him.

In mock amazement, the Joker brought his free hand to his chest and proclaimed, "Oh no Elise, I can play games with you with or without these cuffs. We can take our games a bit further if you like," he grinned, "But that's talk for another time," he cleared his throat and grabbed the side of her face, "I may not be interested in the money for your unharmed beautiful head, but my men…" the Joker's eyes rolled over to the doorway, lazily and mutely acknowledging them, wherever they may be, "my men aren't so pious. Give them a free moment with you when I'm away and off! They would to be to the station to turn you in for their version of the lottery. Elise, I can't give you and the game up that easily, now can I?" when Elise didn't respond he tightened the grip on her face and repeated, "Can I, Elise?"

Defeated again, Elise shook her head, confirming he couldn't give her up.

"You should be thanking me, Elise! I'm saving you from being just a toy for a low-life's early retirement," he chose this moment to stride out of the room, which unconditionally meant Elise was to follow him.

From behind him, Elise stated, "But I should be happy that I'm your toy to mentally torture my best friend and my uncle with just so you can have your golden key to Gotham?" Elise prayed this question didn't automatically mean another choking or another painful slap to the face.

The Joker stopped in his tracks, turned around and sighed at Elise's quickly reddening face. He put a large, caked hand on her collarbone and pressed her against the wall, bringing himself with it. Looking down at her silently for a few moments, he began to explain, "I already have the key to this city, Elise. I practically run this place! They may not know it yet, but they will soon enough," he nodded his head, as if he were explaining it to a small child, "and if my men had it their way with you, you wouldn't be so unharmed as you might appear."

Elise swallowed her sickness. She knew he was probably right, but what the hell were _his_ intentions going to be, locked to his wrist at all times from now till whenever?

"Trust me, Elise," he began as he seemed to search for something in the pocket of his overcoat, his vest, his pants until finally he pulled out a small key ring of keys, "I'm not crazy. I'm not," he unlocked the cuff on Elise's wrist and took another key to open the door approximately two feet to their left. Before Elise could speak, he did, "It's been five days, gorgeous. You have fifteen," on that note, the Joker opened a stainless steel door and roughly shoved Elise into it, slammed it shut behind her and locked it again. Typically, she could hear his gleeful laugh echo through the wide room.

The front face of Elise's body hit the cold tile ground, but her arms saved her face from impact. Observantly, she looked around the room and realized, to her great relief, and it was a bathroom, equipped with a shower.

Realizing she only had fifteen minutes, Elise quickly stripped down to nothing and found it easy to work the shower. Melting into the soothing heat, Elise took a bar of soap and began to scrub incessantly: her legs, her arms, her face, her chest, her stomach, her hair, everything. It was as if she was trying to erase every single inch of dirt she felt: the dirt that plagued her mind. She knew couldn't and after ten minutes of scrubbing, Elise stopped and lowered her body down to her feet and remained there, trying her best to drain away the past five days with the water. Elise stayed like a statue until a banging and a creaking met her ears.

"Shower time is over, beautiful!" the Joker's voice rang through the bathroom, "Apparently some do like it hot," he smugly commented as he walked through the lavatory, waving his hand in front of him to get the steam out of his face, as Elise could see through the curtain.

Cautiously Elise peeked her head out of the curtain, careful to conceal any part of her body, "Must you?!" she exclaimed, ashamed and invaded.

The Joker jutted his head forward and narrowed his eyes as he looked at the dripping Elise, "Be grateful you even got to wash up, my precious," he then pointed his index finger to a stack of clothes behind him, "Wear that and make it fast. Or it'll be nothing," he laughed hysterically at his joke, or threat. At that, he disappeared back out.

Elise let out a sigh of relief. Quickly though, she hopped out of the shower and dried off hurriedly and tried her best to towel dry her long, thick hair. Picking up the clothes that were there, Elise realized there were most likely his and knowing that, she also configured that they were going to be huge. Elise rolled her eyes, _'Great.'_

Using her hand to clear off the steam on the mirror, Elise attempted to finger-comb her shoulder length hair, which was already starting to curl. She saw that she had fading bruises on her neck that were starting to turn a jaundice yellow, a sure sign that they would be healed soon. Elise silently prayed that she would endure no more bruises than the ones she had from her brawls with the man outside, took a deep breath and opened the door as the Joker's warning knock came upon it.

Once outside, the Joker immediately grabbed her wrists and swung the cuff back around her tiny wrist, "I was starting to hope I could make good on my threat!" he laughed as Elise stubbornly refused to look at his humored eyes. The idea of this madman seeing her naked sickened her. Then, they began to walk. A flight of stairs later, the Joker halted at a door and turned to her, declaring, "Checking in for the night!" and took out the same key ring and proceeded to unlock the unknown door.

**And that was a long one. I had to get this out of my head, I've been working all day. Thank youuuu!!**


	7. Chapter Seven

Illusions

**I am, truthfully, completely blown away by the amazing reviews I've been receiving. They brighten my day, as corny as it may seem, but it's definitely true. As usual, nothing here belongs to me but the storyline. Thanks for tuning in and happy reading!**

Chapter Seven;

La-dee-da-ta'ing to himself, the Joker unlocked the door to the unknown room in front of Elise. As he walked in, Elise clearly had no choice but to follow. When they entered the room the Joker threw up his arms in a sort of welcoming gesture to Elise and declared, "Home sweet home!" he then turned to her and began to unlock her cuffs. After doing so, he turned back around and locked the room's door to the max. Chains, key locks, sliding locks, you could name it and the Joker most likely had it on that door.

Elise couldn't count the number of times she had thought to herself, _'Do I really look like I'm going anywhere?'_

However, knowing what she knew now, Elise figured that the Joker initiated this high level of security to be certain that his men didn't make a move to take Elise. She couldn't figure out why anyone would want to cross the Joker, maybe except Batman but petty thieves or whoever his cronies were? They probably wouldn't last more than a minute if they attempted to defy him.

Elise's face then contorted itself in twisted wonder.

'Why am I supporting the horrid talents of this man?' she thought to herself, shaking her head as her body shuddered. Elise didn't have time to answer her own questions or fight them off because the Joker, as he seemingly enjoyed doing, cut into her thought processing.

With now bare hands, the Joker pointed to where a queen sized bed against a wall, "Looks like someone got visited by the good witch," he giggled to himself. But Elise's eyes followed where he pointed and sure enough, there was something there. On a coffee table next to the bed rest an assortment of fruits, breads, sandwich meats and various other simply culinary items to make an ideal meal. Elise realized that with her five days of captivity also meant five days of not eating. When she looked in the mirror roughly ten minutes prior, she noticed her face bones were sunken into her skull and that her naturally lean face was even more prominent. The sight of the food made Elise's mouth salivate like a dog and like a dog she would've charged to the table, but the lingering brown eyes of the Joker prevented her from moving anywhere.

"What, you going to let it rot or something?" he put his giant hand on her shoulder blade, "Eat, eat, eat away!" On the third 'eat,' the Joker violent pushed Elise forward, her neck snapping back with the sudden force.

Her empty stomached body literally flew the ten feet from the door to the edge of the bed. When her body stopped, Elise caught herself on the edge of the wooden frame to collect her balance and weakly walked to the table. She made her seat on the bed and dismissed the fact that his leering eyes still bore into her body. Elise grabbed the meat and bread, slapped it on other side and shoved the crude sandwich into her mouth. It was the best thing Elise had ever tasted. Within two minutes, the sandwich was gone and on that note, she started on a ripe granny smith apple. After ten minutes, the majority of what was out on the table was gone. It didn't really hit her until after she was done feasting that perhaps the Joker might want something, but she hoped that he could help himself before tending to his captive's needs.

"Somebody could've eaten a cow," commented a voice behind her. Elise turned around to face the same Joker, but a still remotely different man. In the time she had consumed her meal, he had gotten rid of the eggplant colored overcoat, taken off the jealousy green vest, un-tucked the diamond patterned shirt and loosened the tie that was fastened around his neck. He smiled at her; not with the hand carved grin but with his actual lips, "You're welcome, Elise," he smirked at her, clicking his tongue as he finished saying her name.

"I was getting to 'thank you,' you know," she said quietly. Elise didn't really want to be thanking him at all. Sure he let her bathe and sure he fed her, but he had also taken her hostage, mocked her friends and family for it, knocked her out, threatened her and had a bunch of bombs laid out on her! Elise didn't want to end up becoming the literal definition of giving an arm and a leg to survive through something.

He tsk-tsked her, "It doesn't mean anything when someone hints at it, Elise. Didn't your mommy ever teach you manners like 'please' and 'thank you'?"

There he was, talking to her like he was a child again. He must know she hated it because with her rounded eyes became narrow emeralds, he laughed at her emotional reaction. "Ahh _Ellll_-ise, the fighter with the unpredictable temper. I like that; I really, really really _really_ like that!"

"Yes, well I _don't like_ being treated and talked to like I'm ten years old again," Elise snapped back. The Joker stopped his slow, steady tread on the other side of the bed and craned his neck at her, almost daring her to continue. The bait caught the fish, the fish that was Elise, "Do I really look like someone you can talk to like she doesn't know a damn thing? Yes, of course I have manners and yes my mother taught me well. One question, though: did your parents teach you manners?" It was times like this that Elise truthfully wished she knew where the lines she shouldn't cross were drawn out. She never saw these lines until she had run far too long to see them and rectify her wrongdoings.

With a growl and a shake of his lime-tinted head, the Joker inhumanely jumped halfway across the bed towards Elise. Luckily for her, the food's energy had done her justice and she was able to duck away onto the floor. Quickly she scrambled up and ran to a corner. Elise cursed herself, _'Damn it, why do I put myself in these situations?'_

The Joker cornered her completely, laughing low and evil as he approached, "Don't you know that if you play with fire, you'll surely get burned?" He grabbed by the shoulders, picking her up and using the wall for support, he positioned his face centimeters away from hers. Elise smelled the same scent as she did the first time he was this close to her: mint and gasoline. The familiar scent stirred something in Elise and the stirring scared her out of her mind.

"Don't you know _you _will get burned?" Elise retorted. The Joker took his face away from hers and looked her over silently. In the midst of his observation, he suddenly covered Elise's lips with his own, crushing her mouth as he did. And this time, for some reason beyond Elise's control, she kissed him back. She could not only smell him, but now she could taste him and, as much as Elise didn't want to admit it, the mint-laced taste matched that of his smell, firing that stir in Elise.

She didn't notice the Joker reaching for something in his pants pocket. He took his lips off of hers and whispered slowly, so that with each word Elise could feel the touch of his Cheshire scars on her cheeks, "Oops.. I imagine I meant you'll get _scarred_," like a lunatic, the Joker threw his head back. The stirring immediately went away and fear clouded her senses. Before she had time to kick, scream, hit or do anything related to defense, a harsh, angry pain raced across the left side of her chest. The pain hit her like his first slap on her face: sharp, angry and stinging.

In retaliation, Elise pushed the Joker away and this time, he let himself be pushed. He laughed and laughed, kneeling down and put his hands on his thighs to support himself while he doubled over, "Oh Elise, you're just too much damn fun for one night! Don't get too close to the edge or you'll the knife," he wheezed out as he tried to catch his breath.

Lividly, Elise put a shaking hand to where she felt pain. When she brought her hand to her face, she felt the blood drain from her face; blood was what she saw. She speed walked to a full profile mirror and looked at the result. She was a three inch straight incision above her left breast. Elise was horrified. She almost bitterly laughed to herself. He would never let her be rid of him, even if she did escape.

She turned to him, "You can't brand me and make me your trophy hostage forever," she stated as she felt the hot tears form. She knew from all her studies about jails and power situations that this was a degrading form of making her lose her identity.

The Joker mock laughed, "Really, you should act a lesson or two in comedy, Elise darling," he began, "I told you when you got here that as long as you listen to me, you'll be fine. Disobey me and, well…" he pointed to her fresh wound, "You get stuff like that done to you."

She was certain she hit a sensitive spot when she mentioned his parents. It was after that when he snapped and jumped for her like a murderous animal. On the topic of animals, Elise heard a familiar click. She looked down at her wrist. She almost wanted to roll her eyes. Once again, he had made himself the master and he had made her his dog with a simple set of handcuffs. Her eyes began to droop, "Are these really necessary?"

The Joker nodded his head, "It's bedtime, Elise. Oh, didn't I tell you? In that water I so kindly had out for you, I kind of spiked with a sleeping pill," at Elise's shocked reaction, the Joker explained, "Oh Elise, don't fret it's just your typical sleeping shit your doc would probably give your average crazy person or insomniac," he began to walk towards the bed, dragging an increasingly tired Elise with him. He threw back the crimson red comforter and lay down on the opposite side of the bed, forcing Elise next to him.

Elise shook her head wildly, damp and tangled curls flying, "I won't… sleep next to… you," her head collapsed on one of the matching crimson pillows.

The Joker roughly brushed a calloused hand over the side of her face and said, "Oh Elise, I'm afraid you have no choice in that matter," he sharply lifted up his arm, limply bringing hers up, too, "You see, fate had us _locked _together tonight!" the Joker cracked himself up upon his own jokes but stopped when he saw Elise was out cold. He muttered, "Tiny girls can't take anything correctly," then clapped his hands, making the lights around him shut off instantly.

**Whew! I had that going through my head all day at Panera and it's finally out! Oh and by the way, if you make my plot parallel with the movie, this is approximately they day before Bruce's fundraiser party for Harvey. Ah, don't worry. The plot thickens in the next chapter or so. Review, if you please and thank you for reading!**


	8. Chapter Eight

Illusions

**I really wish I was the one sleeping in the same bed with the Joker… haha, I mean, what? My apologies, I just had to let some of my fantasies some out. But I'm sure you understand. Ahh, well as usual, thank you to my reviewers; your comments and encouragement is the greatest. Lovely reading!**

Chapter Eight;

Even in slumber, Elise could sense the presence of something lingering over her face. Lazily, her green eyes began to flutter open, tightly shutting when it met the sun's morning rays. It made her remember the summer mornings when she'd wake up at one or two in the afternoon, the sun playing as her built in alarm clock. Things were simple in those teenaged days. She turned over in the sheets, groaning as she rolled to get the light out of her eyes. When she settled, Elise opened her eyes only to meet a sight she had almost forgotten about in her sleep.

The Joker rested, relaxed and comfortable, on a padded, spinning office chair. He leaned back against the head rest with his murderous hands behind his head. When Elise turned to him, he crossed his legs and jerked his head at her, quipping, "Rise and shine, beautiful!" he then came forward, rested his elbows on his knees and asked, "Anyone ever tell you that you look insanely ravishing when you sleep?"

She waited for her captor to laugh, but the only satisfaction he fed her was a crooked half smile. She had just woken up to see a stark white, black eyed and ruby lipped face, who had chained himself to her the previous night. Elise wasn't ready to take compliments from him, nor was she ever. Simply, she braced herself for sarcasm at all times.

"They only say that in movies," she sighed conclusively. Elise hoped, for once, he would let her have the last word.

Standing up, the Joker clapped his hands, causing Elise to jump and added, "Did anyone ever tell you that you're a horrible bore when you wake up, Elise?" he sat down next to her and brought both hands to her face, stretching her lips out into a long, buttery-stretched smile, "Why so serious, my darling?" he mock pouted in front of her, "When I first started watching you, you always smiled. You were always laughing at something, hell, even at the wind blowing in the trees! You're a lovely creature when you smile. You really do need to smile more!"

The speed of him always kept Elise in wonder. Again, before she knew it, the Joker had pulled a razorblade and locked it to the corner of her mouth where his fingers had just been a moment ago. Elise yelped at the feel of cold metal until the moist, pink flesh of her inner cheek. She wondered fleetly if his mental and physical abuse would ever stop. Elise managed to answer her own question: after six days of continuous action, he had no reason to stop now.

"Why would I ever smile when you do things like this to me?" Elise stuttered, almost pleadingly. She answered his questions in her mind, _'Yes, people have told me that I look mildly attractive when I'm sleeping. Maybe that's why I don't want to look like a facial clone of you!'_

The Joker outlined the curve of Elise's lips when the edge of the blade, leaving small intentions on her skin that faded almost immediately. He shrugged absently and replied, "Well, I don' know, Elise maybe it's because you're going to be on Gotham's evening news and you know, I really need you looking beautiful and healthy for all of the city to see," he leaned backwards against the bed frame and threw out his left arm, as if presenting Elise with some kind of gift, laughing like a wild hyena at his punch line.

Sure enough, there was a video camera mounted on its stand. Elise quickly observed it. The red button screamed loud and clear at her, "I'm filming you!"

Elise's jaw dropped. She was, literally, going to be Gotham's evening news. She wondered how many people he had done this to, bearing their helpless souls to all that had access to basic television. He had literally brought her to the point where she felt like an animal. She was his to control, manipulate, showcase, broadcast and exploit. She knew it was worse that any kind of purely physical, mental or verbal treatment the Joker could deliver. He programmed the simplest methods of breaking down a good whose head and morals had been in the right place and done it in an abominably beautiful fashion.

He now stood behind the camera, directing his real life horror flick. Smiling wider than normal, he coaxed, "Smile big for the camera, Elise. Show them how good you really look."

When Elise didn't smile, just simply glanced up at the camera with groggy, disbelieving eyes, the Joker's demeanor changed instantly to livid, "SMILE AT THE CAMERA!" he roared. The sudden change of tone stunned Elise out of her morning haze and cautiously she looked at the camera's lens, not the eyes of the Joker. Shaking, Elise parted her lips and let her facial muscles pull back her lips, revealing her shiny white pearls of teeth. Mentally, Elise wanted to kick her own ass. She hated faking anything. The whole week had been one long episode of artificial.

The Joker laughed behind the camera, "Lovely, Elise!" he clapped, rewarding her good behavior. Elise never felt so degraded in her life. She felt like a dog again. She was aware of him talking to her again, "Now Elise, how long have you been with me?"

Smirking, she answered back, "Six days or so," she tried to her best to subdue her trembling.

"Have I fed you at all?" he raised an eyebrow dramatically behind the camera. The intense gaze blazed, "Fabricate or suffer."

"Wonderfully," she gritted through her teeth. _'After five bloody days.'_

His tongue clicked, "Oh Elise, what about showering? I let you do that too, right?" She looked at him; he nodded, urging her on.

"But, of course," Elise felt her blood boil. Surely her body was turning beet red. Bloody hell, how she hated lying.

The Joker then came around to the front of the camera, took it off of its stand violently and held it up to the front of his face with his hands, "So you see, oh citizens of Gotham, Miss Conway here is in lovely condition and unharmed. But really, wouldn't you agree she needs to smile more?" At the end of his statement, the purple and green clad clown wildly shut off the camera. He removed the tape from its player and juggled it playfully. He looked to her, sticking a masked lip out at her, "Oh don't fret now, lovely. I'm sure still look just _to die for_ when they air this tonight!" he began to skip towards the door, sticking the tape in his coat pocket.

Elise was instantly out of the bed on her feet. She began to come towards him but the words she wanted to say wouldn't jump off of her tongue. The Joker put his hands to his chest and proclaimed, "What is this?! Does little good Elise not want the bad big Joker to leave so soon?" he smiled.

Defiantly, Elise kept her face stone stiff and simple declared, "I want to see my family," she didn't know where her wish would get her, but it really was the only thing she wanted.

Silently the Joker said "ah," raised a pointed index finger in the air and said, "Note to self: say hello to Rachel Dawes for my Elise, here." He grinned at Elise's wide-eyed reaction.

"Wh-what…?" Elise's bemused statement drifted on, lame and useless.

The Joker tapped himself over the head and explained, "Oh, my apologies, I must've forgot to mention: After I be rid myself of a few city officials, I have quite the fancy-schmancy party to break up tonight! And your Rachel is going to be there. Really, I have to tell her how well I'm treating you, Elise. I bet she's just _aching_ to know!" He laughed again at Elise's expression.

She was immobile. She was numb. She didn't want to be here any longer, as if she did in the first place, but now the mocking and unfolding dilemma began to get to Elise's most sensitive part of her being. She never heard him unlock his door. She never noticed him turn back to her. She didn't even feel him kiss her bent head before shutting the door and securing it from the outside. She didn't feel anything.

Elise began to make a slow, beaten tread back to the Joker's bed. Absently, she turned her head to the huge window overlooking Gotham. The sun was resting high above the city. It must be high noon or so. Not giving the today's apparent outlook a second thought, Elise turned away. She sunk back into the deepness of the bed and laced her fingers through her unruly, snarled hair. There, she wept.

She wept because he had left her alone and she feared the loneliness would drive her insane. She cried because all she wanted was to have coffee and conversation with her best friend. She sobbed for everything the Joker had done to Gotham. For all the things he was doing now. For all the things he would do in the future.

As her faith began to dwindle, Elise dared to hope for a light in this darkness of a time she was destined to be a part of.


	9. Chapter Nine

Illusions

**Holy, time. It's been two days since my last update! Which is the longest span of the time between updates for this story. My apologies! I've been very busy with legal stuff and just having a fun rest of my short summer. Oh, and seeing 'The Dark Knight' for the fifth time. Haha. Well, here it is! Thank you and happy reading!**

Chapter Nine;

Time.

There were moments where Elise considered it her friend. She believed strongly in the phrase "what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger." Supposing as more time passed and Elise remained alive, the stronger and smarter person she would transform into when this nightmare of an experience was over.

But, with every plus, there's always the flipside negative. The time Elise spent alone in her captivity drove her insane. When she imagined herself becoming potentially insane, she almost wanted to laugh to herself. No one could be as crazy as the man hiding her away. Alone, with nothing to do but investigate mysteries she would never solve and waiting for a man who would hit her, hold a knife to her throat and, sometimes, proceed to kiss her while doing so, time passed like the moment of a snail.

As Elise sat chipping off the remnants of her opal nail polish, she distantly heard the massive clock in the center of Gotham strike one o'clock in the morning. Simultaneously with the fading alert, Elise heard loudening footsteps that outweighed the sound of the clock. In her mind, Elise could see the Joker unlocked his multitude of locks. Sure enough, the rattling and jingling that came with that action met her ears and a few seconds later, a roughened up clown Prince of Crime waltzed into his suite.

Without any salutation to Elise, the Joker began to discard himself of his usual "costume," so Elise had begun to call it. As he hummed absently, he removed his thick leather gloves and the heavy purple overcoat. He threw the coat on a table near the door and upon doing so, a thud of something hitting the table was made. Frowning dramatically, the Joker felt around his coat and pulled out a Glock. Shrugging carelessly, he tossed it on the table and gingerly rolled up his sleeves and took off his tie.

Elise watched in silence. Throughout this silence, she grew increasingly agitated. Usually when h he came back from his "business," he would talk to her. This time was different. She felt her patience with him dwindle. Inside, she wanted to hit herself. Why did she give a damn if he spoke to her or not? Elise answered her own question; she just wanted some kind of company as to get over her fear of loneliness driving her crazy.

"Yes Elise, my night was wonderful, thank you for asking. I killed the commissioner of police and sent Judge Sarillo flying!" the Joker declared, breaking the tension thickened air in the room, "Unfortunately, I couldn't send our good ol' Harvey Dent down there with them but I did get to have a good conservation with his girlfriend. Lovely girl, wouldn't you agree, Elise?" he smiled madly, winking at her.

Elise's eyes widened in fear and anger as she looked up from staring at a stain on the carpet to face him_. 'Good God, how many people does he have to hurt and kill to get a damn point across?'_ Elise questioned herself bitterly,_ 'And Rachel… what did he do?!'_

"What did you do to her?" Elise asked him out loud so quietly that she doubted he could hardly hear her. So he had made good on his word to talk to her.

He clicked his tongue, licked his lips and explained, "You see, Elise… I understand why you and Rachel get along soooo well. Besides the fact you're both so beautiful," he winked at his captive, "You both are little fire spites! Little dragons that spit fire at every little threat! Ah Rachel, she wouldn't hear my story about my scars," he pointed both index fingers to either side of his extended smile, "And she hit me! Oh, you little fighters. Haven't I ever told you that I love a little bit of fight?" He already knew the answer.

"More than once," Elise replied harshly, "She's alive?" She was afraid to know the answer.

Plopping down next to Elise and throwing an arm around her, the Joker explained, "See, that's the funny thing. Nothing works according to plan, lovely," he takes a breath, "While I'm talking to your friend, Batman shows up! What do you know! Just the man I'm _dying_ to see," he snickers at the pun, "A brawl breaks out and I'm trying to side track him, you know, throw some of my goons at him and brave Batsy takes care of them. Meanwhile, I grab your Rachel. Big Bat sees this and wants to me let her go!" Elise goes stiff and tries to pull away from the Joker. He laughs and tightens his grip on her, "Don't be like your girlfriend and be rude. Listen to my story," As Elise stops to struggle, the Joker remembers his spot, "So I just want him to take off his mask or I simply let the girl go. Through the window! He refuses so I make good on my word. And, listen Elise this where it gets good; the Batman throws himself out the window and goes after the girl! Now isn't that just a hero!" the Joker says sarcastically, taking his arm off Elise and throwing his head back to laugh.

Disgusted with tale he had just told, Elise backed away against the array of pillows on the bed. She is enraged that this man attempted to kill her best friend as bait to get something he wanted but also strangely unemotional. _'God, what is happening to me…' _she wondered hopelessly. Had she not any say for herself anymore?

Suddenly, the Joker turned to her and jumped on the bed to face her. He crossed his legs and reached for Elise hands. She wildly flapped them around, trying to evade his grasp. The Joker finally succeeded, grabbed her wrists and proceeded to wrap his fingers around her tiny, bony ones.

"Get your hands off me," Elise stammered out lowly, shaking in anger and disbelief.

Smiling, the Joker shook his greasy head of hair and reminded her, "I can and will put my hands wherever I want on you, Elise. Don't take that the wrong way. Only lowly criminals do what you have in mind and I'm the better class."

It took everything for Elise not to snap back with a snide, rude comment. Momentarily, she knew what the smartest thing to do was: not to talk back. She didn't hold his bands back, but she didn't try to fight him holding them either.

"Let me tell you something about myself, Elise," the clown began, "These mob guys, they think I have some kind of loyalty to them because I killed a few people for them," he laughed distantly, "They have no idea. See, I'm a man with limited loyalties and the only loyalty I have is to myself."

As the Joker stared into Elise's eyes, she stared right back. This behavior, she knew, was a far cry from his normal actions. She tried to not think anything of it; it was probably another intricately formulated lie. He was a man that couldn't tell the truth, about himself, at least. Elise nodded, urging him to continue but she knew he would anyway, regardless of her permission or no.

"Elise, in the end, everyone and anyone you know will stab you in the back, or heart. Or anywhere," he put his face close to hers and whispered, "Everyone."

Elise threw her head back and ripped her hands out of his grasp and yelled, "No! No, you have no idea what it means to care for someone or love someone. You don't know how to feel a damn thing," she got off of the bed and bottled her little fists, "I was perfectly fine until you came into my life," she starts to cry, "You can't brainwash me into thinking no one cares about me or loves me enough to not help me!" For the first time since her captivity, she screams at him.

Her breaths came in fast and desperate. It felt amazing to ventilate her anger out on someone. But still, the fact that the Joker still remained in his prior position, sitting down with his legs in a pretzel position and hands laced placidly on his lap, angered her more. She began to believe that nothing she did or said could get to him.

From the corner of her eye, Elise saw the Glock he had placed on the table glisten in the faint light. She didn't have the slightest clue of what drove her to do what she did next, but Elise was on her feet, destination: gun. When Elise reached it, she cocked it on impulse as if she never forgot how. When she turned around to face him, hope fled immediately when she felt cold metal on her throat. Absentmindedly, Elise puts the loaded pistol to the middle of the Joker's forehead. In the back of her mind, Elise lightly questions herself as to why he let her do this but the internal inquires are overclouded by her rage.

With the Glock to his forehead, the Joker rolled his head side to side, cracking his neck loudly. He then grabbed the gun and held it tighter to his head. Looking at Elise straight in the eye, he said, "Go ahead, beautiful, shoot me. I dare you."

At this moment, Elise's hands began to shake uncontrollably. She had never held a gun to anyone before, yet alone someone's head in a killing pose. Despite her fear, Elise wrapped her finger around the trigger.

The Joker smirked at her move, "Bet you won't. Really Elise though, I'm shocked. You really knew how to cock this gun here. Now, before you blow one through my head, I think it's time you tell me a story," he rolled his eyes up to the back of his head and spoke of his thoughts, "Have you ever killed a man before, because seriously Elise, you really seem like you used it before."

She wondered why he was so good about reading people, but Elise quickly realized her actions were the things that were giving her away. No, as much as he had hurt her and the people she loved the most, she knew herself better than that. She could not kill the Joker. Answering all his questions with one simple move, Elise put down the gun and lowered it to her side.

Unfortunately, she never even saw the knife in his hands. With her arms away from her chest, the Joker swung his arm back and slashed another cut across her chest. This time, Elise could feel the pain even more than the first cut. This blade had to have been more dull and deep. Elise's hand jumped automatically to her chest, where Elise subconsciously noted that he had cut her in the same spot as he had done the first time, except in the opposite direction. If she was thinking correctly, there was now an 'x' seared across where her heart should be.

With his knife still in his hand, the Joker doubled over in amusement at his new masterpiece. Faintly, Elise could hear him choke out, "X marks the spot," through all his laughter. As a last stand against her enemy, she switched hands and applied pressure on her fresh wound with her left hand. When the Joker stood up, Elise pulled her arm back and punched him as hard as he could in the stomach.

She could hear the air being knocked out of him as he tried to catch his breath. But to Elise's horrified surprise, he continued to laugh even more demeaning and horrendous than before. With sparkling eyes, the Joker looked up to his feisty captive and told her, "You know, Rachel hit me in my gut, too when I held a knife to her face."

Suddenly, he stood up to his tallest potential and strode over to Elise. He pushed her against the wall and whispered in her ear thickly, "Before I threw her out that window, I told her how beautiful you are when you sleep and when you scream," the Joker let out one of his hysterical laughs again, fulfilling the saying that laughter is the best medicine. Smiling at her, he pulled back his own fist and explained, "Upset the balance," and forcefully slammed his fist into Elise's tiny gut.

Her body's response to the surprise hit was to clutch her stomach and collapse to the ground. Elise couldn't breath and all she could see were stars. As she fell, the Joker grabbed her around the chest. From above her, he bid her, "Goodnight," and sent a fist down onto her neck. Elise's small, shapely form immediately crumbles into his arm as her mind blacks out again.

The Joker grinned, adding on to his permanent smile. He absolutely loved being in control of any situation. He made him powerful. Carefully, the Joker flipped the girl over into his arms and carried her out of his room. He was almost sad to have to take her out so soon but the events of the nigh hadn't gone out exactly as he wanted. But, that was okay because tomorrow was another day.

Out on the street, a car awaited his arrival. When his men saw their boss striding towards them, they immediately filed out of the car and proceeded to take the hostage out of his arms and into the car. When the first thug got too close, the Joker took that opportune moment to kick him square in the knee cap, breaking it on contact. The men that followed him stopped dead in their tracks and looked in horror at their co-conspirator.

The Joker looked coldly at all of them and warned, "The girl is mine, gents. If any of you proceed to touch her, you'll end up like that lucky one or worse."

Casually, he walked past his men and into the waiting car. Gingerly, his remaining men piled into the back, trying their best to avoid provoking their boss' rage. In his seat, the Joker lightly caressed a passed out Elise and as the vehicle began to move, he silently promised he'd come back for her.

**Finally! Oh man that felt like it took forever. But I hope you liked it! Review, review, review!**


	10. Chapter Ten

Illusions

**.. and I'm going on to Chapter 10! Which, by the way, is the longest I've gone with a story, ever! I'm pretty pumped on this. Thank you to everyone who read, enjoyed and reviewed my story. Also, thank you for pointing out my grammatical errors with tense and what not. I was up late/early and my mind was all over the place, so with this one, as with all the chapters before, I will edit better this time. :)**

**Oh, and obviously, I don't own anything but Elise. Thank you, happy reading!**

Chapter Ten;

Elise was aware of pain before she even realized she was awake. The moment her mind gained consciousness, agony filled every inch of her body. To her, it felt like an enormous rock was simply crushing her, unforgivably and powerfully. But when the pain allowed for more sensory experience, the consuming thoughts of pain drained away immediately.

In the distance, yet she could sense it getting louder and louder, Elise heard the beautiful ringing of bagpipes. Today had to be Commissioner Loeb's memorial service.

Automatically, Elise sat up from her laying position to observe the new place she was left in and her outside surrounding. Inside, the room was completely barren of anything: tables, chairs and couches, clocks, television, anything. The walls were alabaster white, growing dirty and dingy with time and lack of care. The only thing giving some kind of character to the empty room was two windows to her right. Elise stood up, shaking slightly due to the pain she was feeling and rubbed the back of her neck as she looked out of the window.

To her surprise, Elise recognized the location immediately. She was in what was downtown Gotham, to the locals. When she was younger, Elise used to go joy-riding with Rachel and their other friends. Elise smiled softly to herself in remembrance, but the smile was quickly washed away when she brought herself back to reality.

As the sound of the bagpipes grew louder, Elise realized that there wasn't a thing in the room that prevented her from leaving. The doorframe on the other side of the room was simply without its counterpart. There weren't any restrains on her wrists or ankles and, from what she could, there weren't any cameras, bombs, explosives or anything that could deter her from coming or going.

A new drive filled Elise's senses.

For the first time since she was abducted, she ran away. When she got to the doorframe, she took an immediate right and ran to the door where the sign above read, "EXIT." Elise took this as her calling and sprinted to the glass door. A few moments later, much to her disappointment and fear, Elise heard footsteps coming up towards the floor she was on. Not wanting to be caught and captured again, Elise did a 180 degree turn in the opposite direction and ran back where she came. Fearfully, Elise looked behind her. She saw a shadow of a bulky figure approaching the door. She threw herself against a door, hoping the wall would conceal her from anyone evil seeing her.

From her location, however, Elise could see into another room, one that did have a door on it. Suddenly, she saw a long shadow stretch down the hall. If she could do so, Elise pressed herself even harder against the door and held her breath. The stranger down the hall speed walked and halted at the door Elise was staring into. She took her chances and peeked her head out from her hiding spot. The stranger was dressed in a motorcycle jacket. Just from appearances alone, Elise doubted it was the Joker and decided to follow him. She imagined that spending over a week with a psychotic killer that she could sense the bad guys from the good ones.

Carefully trying to not make a sound, Elise tip-toed through the hall until she reached room 1602. The sight that met Elise's eyes astonished and horrified her. There were eight men, stripped down to their socks, boxers and under shirts who were blindfolded, mouths covered with duct tape, bound and tied to a wide, square-shaped beam in the center of the room. Crouching down to eye level with one of the bound victims was a man Elise had known for years: Bruce Wayne.

Elise's heart stopped for a moment. She had known the man for most of her life, hell, he practically dated her best friend before he left and disappeared to, hardly anyone knew where. But, he was also the first human being she had seen in over a week, besides the Joker and his henchman. The sight of the so-called Prince of Gotham filled Elise's heart with hope. Maybe today was the day she would be let free.

As Elise watched in wonder, Bruce pulled off the duct tape on one of the men's mouths and asked hoarsely, "What happened?" to which, the captive explained "he" had taken their uniforms, guns and everything.

With a sinking feeling, Elise knew better than anyone who that "he" was.

By this time, Bruce had noticed Elise's presence, for he turned to the direction of the door way. His reaction seemed rather similar to Elise's: stunned, disbelieving and shocked. By this time, the whole of the Gotham's powerful were marching on the street below, walking to listen to Mayor Garcia's speech, honoring the late commissioner. Quickly, Bruce strode towards the girl everyone believed was never coming back and enveloped her in a huge, yet brief hug.

"Elise, my God, are you okay?" Bruce managed to get out quietly, glancing towards the windows as he spoke. Urgently, he walked away, holding onto Elise's arms as he walked.

She walked with him to the window and responded, "I'm better now," she looked down at the street below. The march, consisting of mainly of lawyers, elected officials and police officers, had stopped. Mayor Garcia now stood at a podium, respectfully discussing the legacy of Commissioner Loeb. Behind the mayor sat Rachel Dawes, Harvey Dent and Lieutenant Jim Gordon, Elise's best friend, her best friend's boyfriend and her uncle, respectively. At the sight of them, Elise's heart jumped. She looked to Bruce with a smile on her face, but it too was quickly replaced with a confused frown.

Looking back to the men, Elise asked, "What the hell is going on, Bruce? What happened to them?" she pointed to the bound men, "What is he going to do?" the last question came out as a whisper.

The color guard began to pay their respects. As they did so, Bruce, without looking at his long lost friend demanded seriously, "Elise, I need you against that wall, right now. I don't know what's going to happen, okay? Now."

Her eyes widened and mouth opened in protest but Elise did what Bruce told her. Suddenly, shots rang through the building and hit the window right next to where Bruce and Elise stood. Elise screamed, covered her head and sunk to her knees in response. When the ringing in the room stopped, the screaming of the hundreds of people below began. Elise jumped up like a frog and witnessed the horrid spectacle of fear unfold below. Another shot rang out and Elise's eyes flew to the podium where Mayor Garcia had stood moments ago.

A few feet from it, Elise could see the mayor running for dear life. From this, Elise figured Gotham's mayor was the Joker's target. Although his original target had escaped, heartbreak flooded through Elise as she realized that her once captor had claimed a different casualty: her uncle.

Beside her, Elise could her Bruce lightly mutter, "Oh, no…" as Elise took in the horrific sight on the street only several floors below her. Half of his body stuck out from the bottom of the stand, holding Gotham's insignia. Lieutenant Jim Gordon laid motionless and still as one of his men knelt above him, mouth gaping and shaking hands.

Elise's hands flew to the windowsill and her calm green eyes suddenly flashed bright and glistening with tears that broke and fell relentlessly down her pale face. She screamed "NO!" at the top of her lungs and continued to scream the single broken word as Bruce wrapped his arms around Elise's chest, pulling her away from the window.

In Bruce's strong hold, Elise began to struggle and kick away aimlessly. She hollered mercilessly and dangerously, like a child who had just lost its favorite toy and wasn't getting it back. Only Elise had just lost her uncle. There wasn't any coming back from the dead.

"LET ME GO, BRUCE!" Elise wailed as she kicked harder and harder. She was surprised at herself that she had so much strength left, 'GOD DAMNIT, JUST LET ME GO!"

As Bruce sped down the stairs with Elise in tow, he stopped at one of the last floors and made her face him, "Elise, listen to me, you have to be strong. I know it's hard because of what you just went through, but…" Elise cut him off.

"Shut up!" she yelled at him, "You have no idea what he put me through when he took me away, none at all! So don't you dare tell me I have to be strong, Bruce, don't you dare! That son of a bitch took strength, my courage, my respect and now my uncle?! How much more can a person take from another without breaking them, Bruce? How much!?" Leaning against the wall, Elise began to sob hysterically, covering her exhausted face with her hands.

Bruce rubbed his eyes and quickly massaged his temples. He felt a bit bitter, considering Elise had no idea what his life had entirely been like but regretted that bitterness when he remembered Elise had, too, lost her parents to Gotham's scum. Quickly, he pulled Elise to him and held her in a hug.

"I don't know what else to say right now, but I'm sorry. But now, the ones who care about you will that. We just need to get you out of here, right now," he nodded to Elise and grabbed her by the elbow, urging her to hurry down the stairs.

Elise swallowed back any harsh words she had to say to him. She knew her friend was only trying to do the best he could for her. Honestly, what could one say to their friend that had been missing for over a week and abducted by a destruction-loving murderer?

Elise and Bruce's race to get out of the building became faster. As they reached the outside exit, to where Elise assuming Bruce's vehicle to be kept, she sickeningly realized, _'He wanted me to see my uncle die.'_

**Ah yes, so our Joker didn't let Elise off without a hitch. You didn't think he'd just let her go, did you? But yes, I know I didn't add in every aspect in my story that is in the movie, simply because I wanted everyone to know what Elise's thoughts were on the situation and her "release." I imagine I'd feel something like how Elise is feeling currently. And don't worry, the Joker will be back soon.. haha. Review, review, review!**


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Ahh, I suppose I have nothing to say but this: the only romance taking place in this fic is that of the Joker/OC , and it's obviously the romance of the twisted, odd variety because I doubt a psychopathic murdering clown could really love someone without klling them. The idea is simply fun to play with . Bruce is simply Elise's friend who is just a flirt, of course. But yes, I just had to clarify. Alright, well on to chapter 11. Happy reading!**

Chapter Eleven;

Elise had assumed correctly; Bruce's ride awaited outside in the form of a motorcyle, a Suzuki specifically. Outside, cops and pedestrians alike were running around like chickens with their heads cut off because of the gunshots and the death of Jim Gordon. The chaos around Elise frightened her; she hadn't been around sane people in over a week and the overwhelming sense of disorder unnerved Elise. She took the helmet that Bruce offered her and carefully sat on the back of the ride. When they hit the road, Bruce drove at overwhelming speeds, far beyond that of the road's limits. For a moment, Elise wondered what would happen if he were to get pulled over, but that thought was immediatley brushed aside by the knowledge that there most likely wouldn't be any cops on patrol. Or any that would care about the breaking of the rules of the road. The thought of police at all made Elise's already unstable eyes flood with more tears and behind the protective shield of Bruce's helmet, she let another roar of tears cascade down her pale, drained face.

Elise felt as if she were living in a dream. As she thought, she sat still and corrected her own thoughts: she felt as if she were living in a nightmare. _'This is the part where I should wake up,' _she said to herself hopefully. Elise closed her eyes tight for a moment, squeezing the last tears out. When she opened them, she met a completely different sight. Bruce had reached his temporary residence, a luxurious penthouse in the center of Gotham. Elise smiled sadly as she remembered plenty of friendly childhood memories with Bruce, Rachel and their various other friends. Times had always been good to them when they were younger.

But that was the past. In front of her was her present and future, that was her captivity by the Joker and the death of her uncle.

Her Uncle Jim… his sudden, untimely demise made Elise sick to her stomach and she was hoping she'd hear a squad car come racing down the drive and out would jump her uncle, flying out of the car and yelling, "Elise, I had to! I'm sorry!"

Elise wanted to smack herself. Was she really going crazy? Had the Joker gotten to her head after a week of keeping her with him? A hand on her shoulder ripped Elise out of her internal fears and brought to life external ones. The gentle hand on her shoulder reminded Elise of the aggressive, flat out mean grasp the Joker seemed to enjoy using on her. The memory scared Elise so much to the point that she screamed and fell backwards off the parked bike in order to get away from the "assilant."

Bruce was shocked, to say the least, by what just a simple touch could do to the frightened, traumatized girl. He usually had a pretty good hand on situations, but this one was a different case. He went to Elise, got down on his knees as to be level with her and told her, "Elise! Elise, it's just me, okay? It's Bruce, look at me."

Still gasping for air, Elise turned a tear stained face to her old friend and slowly felt more foolish by the second. _'This is what the Joker wants_,' she thought, _'he wants me to be afraid of anyone and everyone. My chaos is my fear.'_

"It's going to be all right, Elise, I promise. You should never have seen that happen," Elise imagined the "that" was her uncle's death, "and that psychopath knew you would, I bet. But you are here now. I'm going to get Alfred to prepare a room for you and here, you will stay until everything is okay," Elise also imagined that Bruce's words didn't hold as much confidence as he hoped they would, but she knew she had to stay positive or else she was never going to get out of her upturned world alive.

Holding her shaking hands to her face for a few moments, Elise finally nodded her head in a stance of agreement and let Bruce pull her to her feet by her wrists. Alfred Pennyworth, the Wayne's trusted butler since Elise could remember, must have seen the two friends outside for before they were even to the door, the elderly man was jogging down the main staircase towards the entrance. He held the master key in his hand and swiftly unlocked the doors.

The look on the gentle man's face read genuine concern and shock, "Dear God, Miss Conway! You are alive! Thank heavens for this!" Alfred then put an arm around Elise's shoulders and informed his master, "I'll set up the guest bedroom right away, sir." Bruce nodded in absolute approval and turned to Elise.

"I'm going to call up Rachel immediately. But I need you to contact no one, Elise. No one can know you are here," Bruce started to walk away briskly and Elise heard him mutter disappointedly, "You don't know who you can trust around here."

Elise watched her friend walk away with sad, soggy eyes. The thing that depressed her the most about his quiet remark was that he was so right. In a town as corrupt as Gotham, there wasn't any telling what some people would do in order to get a few extra hundred dollars to lie, steal or keep their mouths shut. Elise turned her eyes to the kind man next her. Alfred nodded his head towards the stairs and questioned, "Ready to settle in?"

Uneasily, Elise smiled and nodded. She knew her response didn't seem very convincing but it had nothing to do with where she was at all. She knew it was because the last time she "settled in," she was forced to keep herself in the Joker's bed chamber.

The Joker's rooms… the thought of her capture made her shiver and Elise silently prayed she wouldn't have to go back. Along with that hope, Elise also realized that she was still in the clothes lended to her by the Joker. Elise suddenly stopped walking and turned to Alfred quickly.

With concern on his face, the butler asked politely, "What is the matter, Miss Conway? Is there anything I could do to make you any better?"

Before Elise spoke, she let out a breath she didn't know that she was holding and decided to ask what had been bothering her since she was captured, "Alfred… how much do you know about… everything? My being abducted, the story behind it, just… anything," she looked to him with pleading eyes.

Alfred's aged face seemed downcast as he looked at the girl in front of him, "I think that's another story for another time, Miss Conway. You have enough on your mind right now, considering what has just happened today. You will get the answers to all your questions in due time, this I promise. Right now, you need to worry about yourself as you are in your current state, not the state you were in a week ago or even yesterday."

Elise knew Alfred was right. For as long as she had known the man, right he had always been. Elise knew she would get her answers eventually. No soul in the world had the right to deny her the answers she was seeking. Elise nodded in acceptance and mouthed, "Okay," letting a small smile peek through.

Alfred bowed his head slightly and asked, "Is there anything else before I set up your quarters, miss?"

"Actually Alfred, there is," Elise responded, now anxious to get out of the surely smelly and unflattering clothes and shower, as she hadn't in days, "May I please shower and change into some different clothes that don't make me absolutely want to die?" she smiled weakly and shrugged.

Alfred nodded understandingly and said, "But of course, Miss Elise. I don't think I could reject that request even if my life depended on it," he wiggled two fingers, "Come this way, my dear."

Elise and Alfred walked side by side down the hall of the penthouse and stopped at the first bathroom. Alfred led the way and showed her where towels, shampoos, conditioners, soaps, body scrubs, wash cloths, robes and any other bathtime indulgence was kept. He also showed her how to work the shower itself and when he was finished instructing, he walked out the door and stopped when he was outside.

"I'll be in the kitchen preparing supper, Miss Elise. In the meantime, when you are done, there will be clean clothes in your chamber. Just come fetch me and I'll show you to it. You may take as long as you wish, Miss Elise," after the conclusion of her name, Alfred shut the bathroom door.

When Alfred was gone, Elise wasted no time in stripping out of the Joker's clothes. She made a note to herself to burn them later if Alfred and Bruce permitted her to do so. Following Alfred's instructions, Elise successfully turned on the shower and turned it up to its hottest potential. Carefully, she stepped in, first cringed at how hot it was but gradually, Elise grew used to it. And this time, there would be no deranged clowns knocking at the door, warning her that her bathing time was over. She would not scrub herself senseless either in order to get the dirt and guilt off of her. That would have to come with time. But she could just sit and wonder and think and pray. And cry. So that is was Elise did. With soapy, falling hair and skin that was slowly pruning away like a raisin the sun, Elise Abigail Conway let the tears fall that couldn't for a week.

Although she was out of the Joker's crazed captivity, she still felt his domination over her. Fear filled every pore of her body. She had lived her life not being afraid and studied for almost seven years on what to do to help others get rid of their fears. Now, she was a living product of her own fear.

Elise slowly slid down the wall and didn't stop until she was sitting on the bath tub ground. There, she remained until she couldn't take the heat of the water. After stepping out, Elise dried herself and looked in the mirror. Her bruises were almost faded, much to her happiness. Tightly, Elise wrapped a fluffly white robe around herself and proceeded out of the bathroom, turned right and let the steam follow her for a few feet.

As Elise walked down the hall to find the kitchen, she caught a glimpse of a bedroom. Being as nosy as she was, Elise walked into it, seeing as the door was open. There was a king sized bed in the center of the room with various sweat pants and female sized t-shirs spawled out on the bed. Elise didn't really want to know where the clothes had come from, but she assumed that it was 

meant to be her guest chamber. Quickly, Elise changed into the clothes and sat on the bed when she was finished.

She didn't realize how tired she was until she fell onto her back and let her eyes shut. Within a few minutes, Elise was out. About ten minutes later, Alfred walked back that direction to see if Elise was done showering or not. He looked into the guest bedroom and saw that its intended guest had already found her place.

Alfred smiled to himself and shut the door quietly and prayed to himself that everything would turn out all right for the sleeping Elise.

**I know, I know, it's a pretty boring chapter but I had to get it out of the way. You know, the false sense of protection and all. Our Joker will be back soon! Review, review, review!**


	12. Chapter Twelve

**On to Chapter Twelve, it is! All right, well I really have nothing to say, minus the thank yous and the disclaimers, you know, Batman and all its affiliated characters belong to DC Comics and only Elise belongs to me. However, really, to all my reviewers, thank you very much. Happy reading!**

Chapter Twelve;

Perhaps it was the comfort of knowing that she was safe. Maybe it was the fact that for the first time in over a week, she was not sleeping next to or in the same building as a serial killer, arsonist and complete maniac. Whatever the cause, Elise slept better, than a baby or the anonymous narrator in Chuck Palahniuk's _Fight Club_ after his group therapy began, the night that she stayed at the penthouse that Bruce Wayne resided in. It was utterly lovely to sleep in for once and naturally as well. Elise had become more than accustomed to being knocked out or, even on the singular occasion, taking a sleeping aid without her knowledge.

Elise wasn't sure how long she had slept by the time she had woken up. Ever since her captivity, she had lost track of time, save for the occasion where she had been able to watch the local news with the Joker standing menacingly behind her. She sat up straight in bed, rubbed her eyes to get the grog out and reluctantly climbed out of the massive bed and stretched. She wondered around the quarters for a little bit, simply examining and admiring. Eventually, Elise found what she was looking for, the time and date. It was roughly six thirty in the evening and she was relieved to discover that she had been out for only a day.

Finding not much else to do, Elise strolled back to the bed and took a seat. She was a naturally curious observer of detail and it wasn't a surprise to Elise that she had noticed a stark white note that stood out brightly from the darkness of the room. Stretching, Elise both switched on the lamp next to the bed and grasped the note that shared the same nightstand. A smile flied to Elise's lips when she saw her name written in a very familiar penmanship: Rachel's. Elise jovially unfolded the note and she read:

_Dear Elise,_

_I know you all too well to know that when you read this, you're going to say, "Rachel, why didn't you just wake me up?" And do you know what? You need your sleep, Ellie. You have no idea how amazing it felt to hear that you were alive and okay, sleeping soundly here. I doubt even if I wanted to wake you up that Alfred would let me. Haha, but I know we both can't help but to love him. We have so much to talk about when you wake up. I don't know what else to say but that I'm so glad you're all right and at home. I love you, Elise. Find Alfred when you wake up. He'll know where I am. Be safe, Ellie._

_Love, Rach _

Elise smiled sadly after she concluded reading the note. Rachel knew her all too well; she truly wished that she'd woke her up. After all, whom else would a girl want to see after she had just survived a near death situation? Elise imagined the only answer would be her best friend. On the other side, she also understood where Rachel was coming from. She was, after all, a lawyer. Another thought then struck Elise's mind: the other things up for discussion. Elise knew that, sooner or later, she would have to help plan her Uncle Jim's funeral arrangements.

_Funeral…_

The fact that her uncle had died while protecting the city he served, loyally and righteously, broke Elise's heart in half. The truth still hadn't hit her yet and she guessed it wouldn't until planning actually took place. Elise knew she was strong and figured that Rachel, Bruce, Alfred and her aunt and her cousins would help as well.

Elise let out a long sigh and decided to find Alfred to discover where Rachel had gone and where she could find her. Elise power walked out of the room and back the way from whence she came with Alfred the day before. Her walk turned into a jog as she turned the corner to reach the main marble staircase. She took the stairs down and walked through one of the sets of double doors to the right. It was presumably the dining room, with a long rectangular table and a huge, shining crystal chandelier. It reminded Elise of _the Phantom of the Opera_ and she smiled to herself. Then, her eye caught the man she was looking for.

Alfred was sitting on one of the mahogany chairs, watching the news on a huge widescreen, HD television screen. Elise smiled at the old man and walked on over to him. When she was halfway to him, Alfred turned to his left and smiled warmly at the guest.

"Sleep well, Miss Elise?" he asked politely.

Elise nodded and stood next to the butler, crossed her arms and turned her head to the news report. What she saw shocked her. Harvey Dent was being taken into custody by the Gotham Police and was currently being taken down to county jail. The headline under the footage stunned Elise even more. It read: D.A. DENT CONFESSES TO BE BATMAN.

'_But that can't be right…'_ Elise thought to herself. She then spoke aloud, "Alfred, what is going on?"

Alfred sighed and Elise imagined that he was trying to decide within himself what do tell Elise or not. Elise prayed he wouldn't hide anything from her. She had been put through worse and she believed she could handle any truth, good or bad. Finally, he spoke, "I believe Mr. Dent is trying to lure the Joker to him as to capture him and bring him into police custody, Miss Elise."

Slowly, Elise nodded her head, absorbing what she had just heard. She hated hearing the Joker's name, but knew she would have to deal with it in order to life live. She also hoped that Harvey Dent, Gotham's knightly District Attorney and Rachel's boyfriend, wasn't actually as stupid as she was picturing him to be right then. She also was trying to imagine how much more worried and upset Rachel was.

Elise turned to Alfred, "I truly hope Harvey Dent knows what he is up against, Alfred. As much as I hate the man for what he's done to me and my family," Elise bowed her head in respect to her uncle for a moment, "I will admit this: the Joker is no fool. If Harvey doesn't do this the right way, the Joker will turn Harvey's plan against him and it'll all be downhill from there."

Alfred gazed at the girl with sad eyes. Elise could only fathom what could possibly be running through his thoughts. He then nodded his head reluctantly. She knew that he knew that she was right. Quietly, Alfred stated, "All we can do now is hope for the best."

Elise only pursed her lips and looked back to the television. All reports had stopped after Harvey left the police station. Without turning his way, Elise asked, "Where has Rachel gone?"

"She left as soon as Mr. Dent announced his identity, Miss Elise. She went down to the station to convince him otherwise, I believe. I'm assuming to no avail, as well," the elderly butler added quietly, "About an hour or so ago."

Elise turned her head to him and declared, "I'm going back into town and I'm going to find her," she immediately turned on her heel. Elise hoped that Alfred was an accepting person and could understand the ways of the insanely stubborn, for Elise knew she was just that. Much to Elise's gratitude, she heard the footsteps of Alfred echo through the hall behind her.

"Miss Elise!" she heard Alfred call out from about twenty feet away. Elise halted and turned, out of breath and refreshed with new ambition, to face him, "I'm not one to tell you what and what not to do. But, to be blunt, you've been put through hell for a week, Miss Elise. Are you ready for it out there?"

Elise simply looked at the kind elderly man, thought first before opening her mouth, and then decided on, "Alfred, I'm no fool either. I lived with that lunatic for a week and I know he wants me to be afraid of him. But, Alfred, it's more than that. I know that if I stay here, he _will _find me here eventually, which means he finds you and Bruce. I can't endanger either of you. I need to go out there. I need to find my best friend," she turned back around and walked to the guest room, "She needs someone more than ever," she said loudly as so Alfred could hear her, "You know she must be worried sick."

"She left you some clothes to change into in case you did decide to leave, Miss Elise," Alfred called again at her back. She assumed he saw her reaction, for he added, "I'll be outside in the car waiting."

Thankfully, Rachel had left Elise multiple outfits to pick from. She decided that jeans, a pair of sneakers and a jacket would be fine. Much to her relief, Elise also noticed that Rachel had packed a gun in the bottom of the gym bag. It was out of character for Rachel to do so, but she supposed that desperate times called for desperate measures. These times were definitely desperate. Elise still felt empty without her purse but settled on the knowledge that items could be replaced and a person couldn't. Elise broke out into a run through the penthouse and out to the car to join Alfred in the Bentley.

With shaking hands, Elise locked in her seat belt, sat back in the leather seat and clutched the door handle with whiting knuckles. As Alfred began to drive to the police station, he turned to her and asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Elise considered Alfred's question for a moment and then nodded, "Yes Alfred. If I don't do this now, I'll regret it later. At the moment, it's the least I can do for the people I care about the most." Her response was final and permanent and she sensed that Alfred knew this, for no more questions were asked on the way to the station.

When they finally arrived, Elise took in the gloomy sight of the building. She finally gathered up her strength, took a deep breath and leaned over to hug Alfred, "Thank you, for everything, Alfred. I hope I see you soon," Elise gave him a weak smile and opened the car door. She heard him bid her good luck and be careful and prayed to herself that she was going to get out of Hell alive.

As if she were approaching her final judgment, Elise slowly walked up the steps and opened the heavy doors into the police station. Loud noise and commotion immediately met her ears. Something huge had happened, Elise told herself. She starting walking faster, believing she was headed towards the main site of the wildness. She knew these corridors like the back of her hand; she had been there a thousand times with her uncle and various other members of law enforcement.

When Elise got to her final destination, where the holding cells were located, Elise had to swallow back her own bile in order to not become physically sick. She could only stare in amazement and let out a loud gasp. At her sound, the majority of the Gotham Police Force turned their attention to her and Elise wasn't sure who was more astounded: the police officers or herself. Suddenly, a voice boomed, "EVERYBODY OUT!"

It was all Elise heard before she fainted.

**Alright, that's the end of twelve! I hope you like it and please review!**


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Here it is everyone! The thirteenth installment! My most sincere apologies for the delay. I've been bringing in the green and what not. Again, never ending thanks to my reviewers for keeping my drive and inspiration up to keep writing this. The only thing I own is Elise, you know. **

**But without further ado, I give to you chapter thirteen! Happy reading.**

Chapter Thirteen;

The feel of freezing cold was the first thing Elise felt when she came to. The next thing she knew, she was gagging and coughing up ice-like water that had trickled down her nose. When she was fully conscious again, she sat up immediately and shook herself in an attempt to get water off. She pondered angrily to herself if using freezing water to wake her back up was truly necessary. Then, she suddenly stopped when she remembered where she was and what had happened. Slowly, Elise turned her head around all the way, both ways, to meet wide eyes around her.

'How embarrassing,' Elise thought to herself as she continued to look past the police officers surrounding her. When her eyes met a particular person, the same feeling that she felt right before she fainted hit her again. This time, Elise forced herself to stay there and wondered, '_Am I dreaming or is that really my uncle standing there?'_

Elise felt like a little child, sitting in the middle of the hard, unforgiving tile floor, her mouth hanging open slightly at the unbelievable sight of her uncle standing no more than twenty feet from her.

Jim Gordon looked at his only niece and smiled sadly at her. With the smile still on his face, he began to walk toward Elise. When he began to walk, Elise jumped up from her seated position, immediately feeling light headed as she did so, but she pushed that feeling away and ran over to her uncle.

When they reached each other, Jim wrapped Elise in an enormous bear hug that picked her up off the ground. Elise laughed joyously to herself as the tears began to fall. It felt simply amazing to Elise to be able to cry because she happy. She couldn't remember feeling that enlightened and so hopeful. Jim laughed with her and she could see heavy tears that threatened to fall behind his spectacled face. Elise took a step back from her uncle and shook her head disbelievingly at him.

"I thought you dead, Uncle Jim. I watched you die. I saw it from the apartment building," she stated in wonder. Elise looked to her uncle, expecting an answer. As Jim began to open his mouth, a loud, insane laugh rang through the room. It was a sound Elise hoped she wouldn't hear ever again, or for a very long time, at least. She left her luck drain away from her with the cackle she could never escape from.

Every single head in the room turned to the single cell in the center of the room. From beside her, Elise heard her uncle sigh. She imagined he had hoped that the prisoner would have left her alone. The assumption almost made Elise laugh out loud. The Joker, leave her alone? Never.

Angrily, Jim Gordon turned towards the cell and pointed his index finger at him, "You leave her alone, you son of a bitch, you hear me!? You've done enough damage to her and I won't let you hurt my family anymore."

The Joker simply flashed a huge, horrendous grin at the heated man across from him. He then turned his gaze towards Elise, who was still a distance away from the cell. As he looked at her, Elise froze. A flood of memories came tumbling back into reality.

"She looks a-okay to me, _Co-mission-er_," the Joker rolled the words off of his tongue slowly, "But who's to listen to me anyways, eh?" he asked mockingly. He then casually laced his fingers together and sat back against the metal bars of his cell. He wouldn't say much more, if anything.

Elise was sure her uncle was shooting daggers across the room to the Joker, but childish looks wouldn't get them anywhere. She took a deep breath and took a few steps forward until she reached her uncle. Still looking at the Joker, she put her arm around his waist and instructed, "Come on, Uncle Jim. We need to go home," she guided him towards the exit from where she came, adding, "I'm sure Barbara wants to know her husband is alive and the children need their father."

Jim nodded his head, ran a single hand through his graying hair and sighed, put his arm around his niece and said, "Let's go."

Uncle and niece walked side by side through the room, where police officers bowed their head in respect to the fighting duo.

"Oh, Elise…" an all too familiar voice drawled from behind them.

Going stiff, Elise slowly turned around to face her once captor, she quietly asked, "Y-yes?"

Smacking his lips and slightly smiling the Joker explained, "When I let you go that night, you remember?" Elise nodded, not knowing where he was going with the story, "I promised myself that I would come back for you," he nodded his head crazily as Elise's eyes grew wide, "You know, Elise, I'm a man of my word," and he laughed and laughed and laughed.

Elise shook her auburn red hair in fear as she turned on her heel to run out of the room. As she ran, she could see some of the officers run past her to the cage. She could hear the pounding of batons against the bars, a feeble attempt on their parts to get the cackling fiend to shut up. Running footsteps behind her reassured Elise that her uncle was following her.

When she was far enough away, Elise stopped running and stood against the wall, attempting to catch her breath. She closed her eyes sharply and finally stood back up fully. Her uncle caught up with her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Elise, listen to me," he put his face close to hers and swore, "I promise you I won't let that bastard get take you again. He isn't going anywhere."

Although Elise didn't have complete faith in her uncle's words, she nodded faintly and replied, "I've seen just glimpses of what he can do, Uncle Jim," she then wrapped her arms around herself, looked away and spoke down the hall, "I'm afraid that with him, if there's a will then there's more than definitely a way."

She could only imagine what the man next to her was thinking. Of course, she was troubled and naturally she expected him to understand. But even she didn't expect the Joker to get caught. She knew well enough that that Joker only did what he wanted to or did things only if he had to. Elise wondered morbidly if he had planned to get caught, as to make the Gotham PD believe that they were one step closer to bringing him down. Elise almost wanted to smack herself for thinking that the criminal mastermind could outsmart some of the bravest and smartest men she knew but after a week of being his captive, Elise's hopes of a turnaround were, understandably to her, not too high.

Quietly, Jim said, "Come on, Elise," and escorted her to where the offices were located.

Elise turned to her uncle in confusion and asked, "Aren't I coming with you?" She felt a rising panic soar up within her. She furrowed her eyebrows together and said, "Uncle Jim, I thought I lost you and you have no idea how horrible that was to think I saw you die."

Jim Gordon smiled at his niece and explained, "Elise, trust me, you'll be safe here. I promised you that. I have a friend that's here to talk to you and, believe me, he won't let anything happen to you," a now cryptic smile slightly adorned his face and he quickly concealed it while he lead Elise to the door of an office Elise had assumed was her uncle's.

Before she could protest, her uncle had unlocked the door to his office and lightly pushed her into the room. She was sure that he knew if he didn't make her, she wasn't going anywhere. He then turned on the artificial, fluorescent light which lit up slowly throughout the office. Finally, the light shined on a tall, bulky figure, clad in the most ebony of blacks. Elise immediately recognized who the infamous figure was by the pointy-eared mask and the thick armor. And, somehow, she wasn't at all surprised.

_'So_ _the Gotham PD has personal connections with the Batman,'_ Elise thought, amused, to herself. She crossed her arms and nodded slightly before turning to her uncle. He was now at the door, about ready to shut it behind him. He looked at his niece and said, "He'll get you back to our place safe, Elise. Don't worry," with a wink to the Batman, Elise saw her uncle walk down the hall, ready to join his family. She could only wonder how much her Aunt Barbara would freak out.

The thoughts of an angry, yet very, very relieved Barbara Gordon flew out of Elise's head when she realized who was left in the room with her.

To break the tension, Elise commented, "Well, this has been quite a peculiar day for me. Uncles rising from the dead and now I get to meet the Batman. I'm quite the lucky one," she smiled uncertainly with a shrug.

"Your uncle is a brave man, one of the best in the city," Batman commented. His voice was low and raspy, much as Elise could imagine it would be. It was almost impossible to believe that there was a real man under the mask and makeup. She loved the satisfaction of being right; of course Harvey Dent wasn't Batman.

Elise nodded in agreement, "Yes, yes he is. It takes major guts to do the things people like him do," she looked to the caped crusader, "And those like you. I don't think I could ever have the courage to do that." Flashes of memories from her eight days with the Joker faded in and out through her head and Elise had to squint her eyes shut and rub her temples to get them to go away.

"I'm just a man in a mask, Elise. Courage is being able to survive through hell, the kind of hell the Joker put you through," Elise wondered, with each word, if the Batman's voice was truly that raspy and that low or if he just pretended to talk like that to disguise his voice. She shrugged the thought aside and pondered on what he had just said. She had never considered herself brave or courageous. She was just a fighter, with a lot to live for.

"I'm not ready to die," she stated, speaking aloud what was on her mind, "I've got a lot to live for. Maybe my survival will give others hope," Elise always wanted to make some kind of a difference. She prayed she would be alive and make this difference and not become a tragic martyr to the city she grew up in, much like Bruce Wayne's parents and her own parents had been.

The Batman nodded at her and said, "We need more people like you, Elise. People like you, Rachel Dawes and Harvey Dent. People like the three of you fill the city with hope."

With the mention of Rachel and Harvey, Elise's eyes turned wide. She had come to the police station in the first place because she was sure this was the most likely place Rachel would be.

_'And she's not…'_ Elise thought to herself. She turned to the Batman and asked, "Where are Harvey and Rachel? I need to know; Rachel is my best friend. I came here to find her." Elise was shocked to discover that her question had caught the masked man off guard. His mouth gaped open slightly as he looked past Elise and towards the door.

"When was the last time you had any contact with her?" the Batman demanded, serious and almost frantic.

The familiar sinking feeling filled Elise's body again as she replied, "She left me a note on my bedside about an hour before I woke up at the place I was staying. That would be about an hour and a half ago."

As she spoke, the Batman marched towards the door and opened it up. Elise whipped herself around and spoke out her worst fears, "Batman, you don't think _he_ did anything with her or him, do you?" Elise heard her own voice shake. She didn't want to know the answer.

"There's only one way to find out," he said simply. He then marched to where the officers in her uncle's unit were dictating what to do about the situation at hand. When the duo reached the police officers, their faces confirmed Elise's worst fears and their voices sealed the fear.

Rachel Dawes was missing and Harvey Dent never made it home.

Panic spread throughout the police station and one of the uncertain officers, a Hispanic female, turned to the Batman and him what they should do.

"Get him in the interrogation room and let her call Gordon. If he doesn't talk to him, he can deal with me," the Batman demanded. Elise already knew this was a man one didn't say no to. The police officers prepared to relocate the Joker into the interrogation room and one of them led Batman to the room, as to stand in the back shadows and await his cue to do his work.

Before he walked away, the Batman turned to Elise and asked, "Are you sure you want to be here? You don't have to see any of this."

"She's my best friend, Batman," Elise stated defiantly and finally, "I need to know."

As much as her statement was true, Elise was quivering inside as to what the answer could possibly be. She rubbed her arms with her hands and looked away from the Batman's gaze. Quietly, she added, "I'm so scared. I can't lose her."

The Batman didn't say a word. He simply looked at her, maybe trying to figure her out. After a few moments, he ordered one of the officers to give Elise a phone to get a hold of her uncle. After the demand, Batman turned on his heel and disappeared. With a cell phone in her hand and a heavy weight in her heart, Elise stood alone in a now empty hall way. She felt fear accumulate in her body and she prayed with all of her might that Rachel would be okay.

She couldn't bear to lose someone else.

With shaking fingers, Elise slowly dialed her uncle's number to tell him the foreboding news.

**It's been days! And I'm finally done! I'm sorry if I made this scene fast. I just had to get it out of my head. I hear dramatic music in my head. Haha. Well, please review and thank you for reading!**


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Here it is everyone! The thirteenth installment! My most sincere apologies for the delay. I've been bringing in the green and what not. Again, never ending thanks to my reviewers for keeping my drive and inspiration up to keep writing this. The only thing I own is Elise, you know. **

**But without further ado, I give to you chapter thirteen! Happy reading.**

**Aw, jeeze, it's been a few days, hasn't it? I'm utterly sorry for keeping everyone waiting. Just a warning: I won't be able to write that much; I'm moving into my dorm on the 20****th**** and start classes on the 25****th****. Everything is happening so quickly! It's insane. But my motivation is kicking into gear again, so I'm going to get on with this. Thank you for tuning in and happy reading!**

Chapter Fourteen;

As Elise sat on a cold, stiff metal chair on the other side of the interrogation glass, she let her thoughts wonder aimlessly. She wondered how her uncle could bear to leave his family when they had just discovered he was back from the dead. Elise couldn't see herself being able to handle it, putting a job before family. But she let herself settle with duty is duty, although that conclusion didn't satisfy her in the least. She also thought about the Joker's chilling promise…

Did he truly mean what he had said? Elise was too frightened to answer her own question. She always envisioned herself as a strong person who could endure quite a lot of trauma and drama. She'd seen her parent's deaths at a young age and she watched more than one of her schoolmates succumb to and die from substance abuse. From that and various other experiences, Elise unconsciously built a thin shield of armor around her heart, letting only a precious few in to know the true person underneath. But she felt that since her captivity with the Joker that that thin armor, that sacred protection, had been stripped away. She felt like every single person who even so much as remotely glanced at her could simply see right through her. Elise tried to convince herself that she was only traumatized and that she just needed to give herself time to let life get back to normal.

Emptily, Elise raised her green eyes from the floor to look at the man who was bringing Gotham to its knees. He looked almost jolly, shaking his lime tinted head back and forth and pursing his lips in an action that looked like it could be silent whistling. The speakers were turned on, so Elise could hear him humming happily to himself.

'Damn it, he has not a care in the world, does he?' Elise thought to herself morbidly, 'This is all one big joke to him, one enormous laugh.'

Elise wondered if the Joker knew something they all didn't or simply found even the worst of situations creepily amusing. A few moments later, Elise's thoughts were broken when she heard the door behind her open and could smell by the distinct scent of his cologne that Uncle Jim was back at quarters.

He rubbed her shoulder in a silent hello, turned to the population of the room and asked them, "Did he say anything?"

Everyone in the room solemnly shook their heads in a unified, "No."

Jim sighed, tired and defeated but Elise knew he wouldn't give up the fight. He was about to turn away from them to walk into the room to exchange a few words with the Joker but before he did, he stopped and stared at Elise. She could feel his gaze on her and she had a faint feeling that he didn't want her 

there. Her eyes were at the boring, blank floor again and before he could say anything Elise informed him, "I'm not going anywhere, Uncle Jim," she looked up at him after that, stared at him straight in the eyes and continued, "Like I can't handle the interrogation of my captor."

She looked away from him and into the cell. To her shock, he was staring right at her and winked from inside the glass. But it was impossible to see anything on the other side when one was inside… or so Elise thought. Her breath caught in her throat and she quickly stood up, making the officers around her jump. Her small right hand rested on her chest as Elise nervously looked around the room, laughing shakily in a weak attempt to reassure everyone that she was okay.

Again, Jim Gordon sighed in atteptance. He knew all too well that his niece would do what she wanted to do. He began to walk towards the door and before stepping into the room, he looked back at Elise and said, "I'm trusting you to trust yourself, Ellie. But if anytime you feel you can't take it, you can leave. Just go to the house and Barbara will take care of you."

Elise nodded her head in thanks and gave her uncle a small, crooked smile in encouragement. Vaguely, she heard him ask Officer Ramirez if "he" was in there. Elise knew that the "he" was Batman and judging by the loud buzzing noise that filled the room like a sudden fire alarm, he was. When Elise looked back to the spot where her uncle was just been standing, the area was filled with his absence. She lifted her eyes to the large pane of glass and saw her uncle walking towards the simple metal table where, on the opposite side, the Joker sat, handcuffed and calm.

From the darkness of his corner, the Joker drawled, "Evening, _Co-missioner_."

Elise's immediate reaction to his voice was a distinct, obvious shiver that creeped down her spine and down her legs until it suddenly halted at her feet. The simple two words brought back a whirlwind of emotions and memories that Elise cared to forget. Desperate to take the shivering away, Elise wrapped her hair-raised arms around each other and forcefully rubbed them together as her uncle informed the Joker that Harvey Dent never made it home. After that, everyone's worst fears were confirmed when the masqueraded man replied casually, "Of course not."

Elise let out a breath that she was not aware she was holding and turned her head away from the sight in front of her. From her left, Officer Wuertz came to her and questioned almost shakily, "Do you need something to drink, water, a Coke, anything? You look as if you're gunna be sick, miss."

Raising her eyes to the aging man's face, Elise saw fear and concern there but she could not place it as genuine or fake. This scared her; she was usually able to tell what was real and what was being fronted rather smoothly, but tonight she felt all her personal attributes slowly fade away with her hope. She nodded and replied, "Yes, a Coke would be great, thank you."

Officer Wuertz nodded only and swiftly brushed past Elise, making her sway slightly forward. Feeling as if she was going to lose her balance, she roughly sat back down on the metal folding chair. Still rubbing her arms, Elise looked back up to the glass. By this time, her uncle had removed the Joker's handcuffs and was walking away from him, informed him, "If we're going to play games, I'm going to need a cup of coffee," and hit the red button that would allow him to let back out to where Elise and the fellow officers were located.

Gleefully the Joker asked, "The good cop, bad cop routine?" He smiled widely and made a loud, obnoxious click with his tongue that made a sharp pain shoot through Elise's head. She groaned quietly and put both hands to either side of her head, trying to soothe away her pain and wondered, irritated, where the hell Wuertz was with her Coke.

As Elise massaged her temples, a sudden hollow bang resounded on the other side of the room, forcing her to look up. Elise immediately noticed that the scene had changed dramatically within a matter of seconds. All of the fluorescent lights were on and, in place of her uncle, Batman now stood behind the 

Joker. He was in the midst of raising his head from the top of the table and saying that one should never go for the head and was cut off by Batman slamming his fist on top of the Joker's.

Forgetting about her headache, Elise slowly stood up and walked, almost trance-like, to the front of the glass. Behind her, she felt a presence. She assumed it was either her uncle's or Wuertz's, but momentarily didn't care. She was fearfully awaiting the next scene to unravel in front of her eyes.

In his deep, raspy voice, Batman declared, "You wanted me. Here I am."

Still sitting calmly in his seat, the Joker smiled, which threw Elise off caught, although she didn't know what else she could expect from a man, no, a creature like him: A complete sadist who took pleasure from an innocent's pain. As the Joker replied with something along the lines of not disappointing him and letting people die and something about letting someone take his place, Elise's thoughts forced her to remove herself from tuning into the interrogation.

Elise slowly, almost unknowingly it would seem to the outside person looking in, folded her hands across her stomach and began to think back deep into the caravel in her mind that contained the great portion of her good memories. She recalled swinging on unsteady, wooden seated swings in the park across from her house at age eight with Rachel. The first fight they got into ever, which occurred in the seventh grade over a useless boy that they both grew to hate, came into her mind. Elise remembered crying for the entire day when Rachel claimed she "hated" Elise. The next day, things were back to normal and both had pretended the pointless fight had never happened. Elise couldn't remember feeling so enlightened before that point.

Dozens of series of memories of times long past came flying back as if they happened yesterday. As an intermission to her memories, Elise did something she never did before, save for a few times when she was younger and believed in everything and anything: she prayed. Lightly resting her head upon the glass, Elise prayed that no harm would come upon her oldest and best friend and if anything did happen, that she would make it out alive, still the same beautiful soul she knew.

As Elise poured every prayer she could out in silent and desperate form, she was unaware of the chaos unfolding in front of her face, literally. By this time, Batman had lost all of his self control and her uncle could see the disaster, ready to explode like a bomb. But Batman was a step ahead of those in the observation room, for as Jim Gordon was running to the door to stop Batman from unleashing his rage upon the Joker, Batman simultaneously put a metal chair beneath the door knob to prevent anyone from entering.

Before Jim could return to where he had left Elise, Batman, unable to see where anyone on the other side was located, threw the laughing Joker against the glass wall, in the same general spot where Elise was resting her head. The impact immediately hit Elise, causing her to fall backwards onto the ground. She gasped loudly and began to back away in fear of what had happened. She finally caught her sense and balance and stood back up to see that Batman had left a huge crack in the glass where he had slammed the Joker. She walked back to where she had just been standing and when she saw the scene taking place, she raised a hand to cover her mouth and quietly muttered, "Oh, my God…"

She felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped slightly at the touch, but calmed down once she discovered that it was only her uncle. Without taking her eyes off the fight, Elise asked, "What the hell just happened?" A fraction of a second later, Batman screamed at the Joker to tell him where "they" were and backed his threatening demeanor with a harsh, angry punch to the cackling Joker's jaw.

To the punch that could have and would have brought a sane man down to the ground, begging for mercy, the Joker only spat out a sizable about of red and white substance from his mouth and told Batman that he had absolutely nothing to threaten him with. Crushed, Elise knew he was purely right and she assumed Batman knew it, too.

Elise then turned to her uncle, who was refusing to look at her or answer her question. It was that moment that Elise knew something was deathly wrong.

Again, she asked, "Uncle Jim, what the hell is going on?" Her eyes demanded an answer.

Still refusing to look at her, Jim Gordon replied, "He's got Harvey…"

Elise turned her head to one side and narrowed her eyes at her uncle, "You know I know that. What else is going on?"

When her uncle bit his lip in hesitance and glanced down at the ground, Elise knew her worst nightmares were coming true right in front of her. With dread heavily coating her words, Elise asked, "Rachel?" She heard her voice crack with the solo word and her eyes grew into large emerald orbs.

Without responding, Jim Gordon looked into the interrogation room and saw the Joker slumped on the floor against the opposite wall and Batman storming out of the room. Elise realized that her uncle had not been listening to what she had said. Something else had gone down. Then, he began to walk away from her, leaving Elise stranded alone. Before he took off, Elise could hear, scattered, two different locations that she knew were on the exact opposite sides of town. Then, she heard her uncle ask Batman which one he was going after, to which he replied, "Rachel."

The same single word which had been ignored by her uncle was, at that very moment, Elise's downfall. She felt herself go into panic mode and couldn't breathe. Back to the ground, Elise fell to her knees and began to mutter, "No, no, no, no, no," continuously over and over again. She didn't feel the hot, untamed tears fall from her eyes and down her face. She didn't feel anything but loss. She knew at that moment that the Joker had planned his all from the beginning. She didn't know if it was to get under her skin, to get under Batman's, to screw with everyone in Gotham's head. Maybe it was a sickening combination of all of all options. The only thing Elise knew one hundred percent was that Rachel, wherever she was, was not coming back ever again. Defeated and broken, Elise rested her elbows onto the cold floor and began to wildly beat her little fists against the ground in anger. She wanted desperately to feel anything else but the pain in her chest she felt now. Faintly, she could feel the bones in her hands shake and shift. Little did Elise know that she was bruising and almost breaking them with all the force in which she was slamming them down. Like she had done when she thought she saw Uncle Jim got shot, Elise opened her mouth and screamed, "NO!"

The single syllable word rang through the entire station. She didn't think she screamed so emotionally and so angrily even when her uncle "died." No, this was her sister, her best friend, the book of her life. And suddenly, Elise felt responsible for everything. Suddenly…

"Oh, Elise…?"

Her sobbing stopped immediately and she froze at the sound of the voice much like a deer would when it was caught in the middle of bright headlights on a midnight road.

He knew she was there.

Slowly, Elise picked herself up from off the ground and turned around to see that the Joker was still slumped in the same position. But now, he was smiled softly. She imagined that he could perfectly picture her standing there, sniffling pathetically and face blushed beat red with angry and heartbreak, her eyes just as red from rough crying.

The Joker, with his makeup fading and melting off with his own sweat, cleared his throat and said, "I know you can… you can hear me, so darling, I really need you to listen up, okay?" He nodded wildly. And even though he couldn't see her, Elise nodded slightly.

"I need you to know that I'm…" he smacked his lips together and continued, "I'm coming back for you," he titled his head back against the wall and looked away from the observation glass, "Tuning out," he muttered quietly.

Trembling, Elise fled the observation room and hoped to whoever resided above that her uncle MCU was as safe as everyone so loyally claimed. She passed Officer Gerard Stephens, presumably the unwillingly one to guard the Joker. She felt his confused gaze upon her back but did not pay it mind, simply continued to run until she reached the main headquarters in the center of the building.

There, in the presence of the officers left behind, Elise began to sob, for everything. Everything she had done, everything she hadn't, for the times long past, for a life that would never be the same.

Her hope was gone.

**I really didn't expect it to be ten days between updates! I'm really sorry! But I honestly hope you enjoy this and thank you for reading. Review, review, review!**


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Well, college has just started and, I must say, it is a lot better than I at first imagined. I'm trying not to get overwhelmed too easily; it seems to happen more often than I'd like. But, with no further ado, here is the next chapter. Happy reading!**

Chapter Fifteen;

After roughly ten or fifteen minutes of crying, Elise's remaining evidence of her pain was only in the form of periodic sniffles and sometimes wiping her eyes to check for any run off makeup. For the duration of that time, every person in the room remained quiet. Perhaps it was because they didn't know what to say or were afraid that whatever they had to say would be offensive to the super sensitive girl in their midst. But as far as Elise was concerned, it meant nothing.

Suddenly, the sounds of struggle brought everyone's attention to the hallway. Slowly, everyone began to stand up, but made no motion to investigate the source of the commotion, for it came directly to them.

In the form of the Joker holding Officer Stephens in a chokehold, dragging him across the hard floor. The floor squeaked each time the officer's toes would touch and drag on the ground. Elise imagined that if she were seeing this in a movie, her mind would become absorbed in the horror of being in that actor's place.

It never registered in Elise'e wildest dreams that she would be a witness to such a scene in real life.

Every man and woman with a gun in the room came to their feet, cocking their weapons and pointing them at the masqueraded man and their gasping comrade. However, any shot they could take at the Joker could easily strike Officer Stephens. Elise knew that he was smart enough to use the unfortunate man as a defensive wall against any oncoming bullets. Struggling in the Joker's strong hold, Officer Stephens swung his head from side to side and managed to mutter out, "Don't!" As he spoke the single word, the Joker dug a blade that no one had seen before deep into his throat, instantly shutting the man up.

This provoked the officers even more. Elise understood their turmoil; bring down the bad guy and risk killing or seriously harming a friend versus the guarantee of saving a friend, but potential letting the city's most wanted criminal loose again.

It was in that moment of remembrance that Elise made her choice.

Gathering her courage, Elise stood up from her position and took a deep breath as she looked her captor in the eye. Inside, she was incessantly trembling, but knew she could not let the Joker see that, or he would simply break down her wall.

'_If Alfred were here right now,'_ Elise thought, 'He would definitely be telling me, _"I told you so."'_

But Elise knew, better than anyone in the room, that she could not ponder on what ifs and why didn't I's. She knew she had to deal with the situation at hand. The moment she stood up, the Joker's eyes and attention were on her, as were everyone else's in the room.

A deep, amused chuckle sounded from the back of the Joker's throat, and Elise could see the officer in his grasp shudder under the sound of it, "So little miss miserable has something to say to the audience at hand?" the Joker announced, smiling at her, provoking her continuation.

It had the effect on Elise that the Joker knew it would. Any courage she had assembled up in her mind had fled with that statement. However, she knew she couldn't let him win without a fight.

Ignoring his question, Elise asked, "What do you want from us?"

Using silence as a dramatic effect, the Joker took his time in answering. As he did, he twisted and maneuvered the blade around Officer Stephens face and neck, suddenly stopping the action to answer as he heard a gun cock again. He pointed the knife at the direction of the sound and said, "I just want my phone call." Officer Stephens struggled again, but this time, the Joker made no action to stop him.

"Just a phone call?" a shaky voice came from the left hand side of the room.

The Joker nodded slowly, as if he were talking to a young child who didn't quite understand what he was being told. The officer looked cautiously around the room. When no one either said yes or no to the request, the dark haired man began to dig in his pockets for his cell phone.

When Elise realized what was going to happen, she immediately yelled over at him, "Are you crazy?! You can't give him that phone. Do you actually believe he is just making a phone call?" Elise turned her head to the Joker, whose face was emotionless, "Okay, sure maybe he will make just a phone call but that call will set off something greater and far worse that just someone answering the other end of it."

Nervously looking around him, the man replied, "Listen lady, that's my friend other there and I'll be damned if I let him die just because some freak didn't get his phone call," looking over at the Joker, he threw his cell phone to him, who caught it in his open right hand, "I'd rather take my chances."

With her eyes never leaving the Joker, Elise took several steps back away from the man she was sure just signed the death warrant for almost every single person standing in the room. The Joker nodded thanks to the man and dialed a set of numbers, hit talk and put the phone to his ear. A smile spread across his face as the phone presumably rang.

"This is madness," Elise spoke out loud, looking around the room, "Do you realize what you all have done?"

Another police officer she did not know turned to her and rudely said, "Lady, just because you were in cahoots with this freak definitely does not give you the right to tell us what we should and shouldn't do!"

Elise's mouth dropped at the statement she had just heard pour out of the man's mouth, "I'm in cahoots with him!?" she exclaimed angrily, pointing a finger at him, "Who the hell do you think you—"

Elise could not finish her sentence, for the room suddenly erupted into an explosion of flame, debris and smoke. The blast took her by sudden force, for she was thrown half way across the room. Immediately, she covered the back of her head and neck with her small hands as much as she could, in an attempt to protect herself from falling pieces of furniture and flaming papers.

Her attempts at protecting herself only went so far, for a few moments later, a piece of the stone ceiling fell onto her, securing her left arm in a monster hold. Under the weight of the massive piece of stone, Elise was left immobile. She tried desperately to remove the block off of her limb by shoving the piece off. However, Elise's strength couldn't match that of the stone. Sighing, defeated, Elise again pushed herself against the stone, her face contorting and strained as she did so. This time was no different. Resting her head against the very article that was disabling her, Elise shut her eyes and did nothing.

She wasn't sure how long she remained there, literally trapped in a nightmare that she was afraid would never end. Elise was never one to just sit in one spot and calmly accept her fate, but today and the days prior to it were proving Elise more and more wrong. Her thoughts were confirmed when she heard not one, but two pairs of footsteps coming from somewhere within the room. Elise could hardly see a few inches in front of her own face; the dust and debris from the explosion were still settling around her and the cloud was not going to subside anytime soon. But Elise didn't need her eyes to know who was coming. The cackle told Elise everything. She closed her eyes in her sad confirmation. A part of her wanted to struggle as she almost always did, but pathetically realized that she wouldn't get anywhere; she would just make the Joker's mission only simpler.

"Oh, how I love chaos, don't you Mr. Lao?" the Joker sounded as if he were talking to an old friend, putting an arm around his shoulder and recollecting old times. Elise despised the art of deception. She knew completely what his intentions were. Then she recognized the name: Lao. She quietly muttered a curse to herself but never sensed the Joker behind her. It wasn't until her neck cracked as she was pulled by her hair that she knew her luck had just failed her.

"Ah, the gold at the end of the rainbow," he breathed the words close to Elise's face and she tried to pull away from the closeness, but as she attempted get away, the Joker only pulled tighter and tighter on her head, "No, no, no. Elise, you know you have to be good."

The mad man looked back to the Chinese crime boss behind him who, Elise noticed as the cloud around them began to settle, was shaking and asked, "Lao, she's a beauty. Don't you think so?" He continued to stare at the terrified man until he nodded his head in forced agreement. Satisfied with Lao's unsatisfactory answer, the Joker looked back at Elise and asked, "Aren't you just so… thrilled about how well things just fall into place, Elise?!"

The Joker obnoxiously laughed to himself at his own joke and took a deep breath as he collected himself and dramatically adjusted his coat and vest, apparently brushing it clean of dust. Looking around at the scene around him, the Joker turned his head to and fro, cracking his neck as he concluded, "I'm thinking a change of scenery would be nice, you guys. It's far too… depressing in here. A window down car ride is just what I ordered."

Rummaging in his pockets, the Joker pulled out a key that he threw to Lao, who barely caught the metal piece in his trembling hands. With eyes wide and glassy, Lao questioningly stared at his new captor. As if he read his mind, the purple and green clad man explained, "Squad car number two. Get it up here. You're playing taxi driver tonight," and he spoke, the Joker also removed a switchblade from his boot and pointed it at Lao's foot.

"Remember who has the control," he cautioned as he clicked his tongue and winked at him. Without a word, the once powerful businessman ran out of the room and, presumably, outside to fetch his new master a vehicle out of there.

He turned back to Elise and put his hands on her face. They felt thick, cakey and dirty. Immediately, Elise began to jerk her face back and forth as to escape from the grasp of the madman in front of her.

"Get your hands off of me, you son of a-" Elise's words were caught in her throat, not by shock or words, but by pain. She felt her neck crack from the base of her skull to the level of her shoulders, again. She shut her eyes to block it out, but when she opened them again, Elise was nose to nose with the man who had promised to come back for her.

Quite recently, Elise had clearly realized she had despised coincidence.

"I never lie, Elise. This time, you're staying with me," he sternly informed Elise as he began to lift the weighty piece of cement off of Elise's now numb arm. Weakly, she attempted to move her body forward, out of the way of the cement and her would-be captor, but he sensed the movement before any change in position was relevant. The fates were against her tonight, for Elise felt the cold, silencing feel of metal on her neck. She froze immediately and gathered enough inner courage to look up and into the eyes of the nameless man.

"You'll kill me?" she inquired lethargically and faintly. As much as she wanted to run, but the slowly dominating side of her just wanted to cave in and accept whatever plans this crime master had in store for her. Should she be like the ancient warriors and accept her fate, whatever it may be or try and change the stars? At that moment, Elise didn't have an answer for herself.

The Joker nodded with a smile on his face and replied, "No, no Elise. I wouldn't kill you. You give me something to entertain myself with. You're something to look at. At the moment, you're of use to me. Hell! I don't even know what use you are. I just… know! Now, we need to take a trip out of here."

With a final thrust, the Joker was able to remove the cement block on Elise's arm and on his knees, came back to her level and explained, "We're getting out of here and I'm carrying you out there. If you make any attempt to struggle or run," he flashed the knife that was just on her neck in front of her eyes and let the blade glide down her cheek, "I have no quarrel with giving you more reminders," he smiled and laid his hands out, "Understand?"

Looking in his eyes, Elise replied, "I have no choice."

Smiling even wider, the Joker said, "Not at all," and suddenly grabbed Elise by her waist and simultaneously sprang to his knees and threw Elise across his shoulders. She held back any desire to fight back and let herself be carried across the back of Gotham's Most Wanted. As they walked past the halls, she imagined what everyone she cared about was going through. Her heart and thoughts went to Rachel and she hoped that somehow, someway things would turn out better for everyone than they were today and every day since the day the Joker came to town.

**Don't be mad! I wasn't expecting there to be month wait for the next series. But to my readers, thank you for still tuning in. I need to tune up writing again. School is extremely busy, with work and homework and the drama that follows college, unfortunately. Review, review, review.**


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Seeing as I love my reviewers so much, I'm going to try to keep up posting chapters… and not just month by month. I feel the previous installment wasn't up to par with my previous posted chapters so I'm going to try to write with better quality, not so stressed out and not so rushed. As for those who did review, thank you for keeping the flame alive and not letting me down. Happy reading!**

**Chapter Sixteen;**

"Where are you taking me?"

Even as Elise spoke the words that came out of the same body that had been her own for the past twenty-four years and some odd months, it was the voice that she did not recognize. It sounded hoarse, drained, weak and frail, like someone who had been stranded out in the desert for many, many months. She briefly wondered if a human being could survive, alone, in the desert for that amount of time and still come out alive… or barely.

Perhaps it was the dust that had collected in her lungs as she tried to catch her breath, for Elise suddenly started to realize that her throat itched. As the Joker randomly adjusted her on his shoulder, Elise attempted to swallow her own saliva as to get the irritating scratch out of her throat. She tried to keep her actions inconspicuous from the madman who carried her to their unknown destination. However, the Joker caught her off guard when he suddenly tossed her from his steady shoulders onto the cold, empty pavement.

Unable to assemble herself in time, Elise lost her balance and fell off the steep curb and onto the side of a Gotham Police Department squad car. In her imbalance, her unprepared ankle twisted with the force as the car saved her from falling flat onto the unforgiving ground. Without thinking, Elise cried out in pain immediately. Just as soon as she opened her mouth, Elise knew she would regret it. Within a matter of seconds, she felt the all too familiar sensation of perfectly carved and eerily cold metal against her throat. Elise forced herself to look up into the penetrating deep brown eyes of her violent captor, only finding a bottomless, emotionless pit of dark, dense brown.

"The world doesn't wait around for the weak and the vulnerable, Miss Conway," he suddenly rounded on her from left and right, the blade of his knife dancing gingerly around her neck and face, carefully outlining the prominent, bony features of her face. In order to not think of what could happen with one slip of the knife, Elise closed her eyes and tried to cautiously turn away from the embrace of such a lethal weapon. Unfortunately, Elise did not get very far, for a few moments later, a sharp pain on her left jaw bone brought her to bring her face straight ahead.

The Joker, his makeup now almost completely melted off his face, looked almost human to Elise. The sun was beginning to set over the skyline of the city and its rays were now reflecting blindingly off some of the buildings behind the captor, his captive and the crime boss awaiting the revving car. His appearance shocked Elise. Maybe it was her fatigue or lack of food or the fact that she had just been crushed by a cement block, but the Joker actually looked handsome.

_'Minus the scars,'_ Elise silently reminded herself, _'But still, this crazy man, attractive? Who would've known?'_

Suddenly, he took a step back, becoming a few inches taller than Elise again and asked her, "Didn't your professors even teach you anything about Darwin and his survival of the fittest theory?"

He then took another step back and blatantly looked the internally crumbling girl up and down.

Elise immediately felt invaded and violated. She felt as if she had just stepped into an episode of The Twilight Zone. First she was safely residing in the penthouse of the city's richest man, where virtually no harm could come to her. She doubted that even the conniving hand of the Joker could've reached her there. Then, of course, she had to play the leading role of the heroine and go on after her best friend who, out of all people, would want her to be safe. And now, she didn't even know if her best friend was going to survive the night, which would add another person to the list of people Elise had loved with all of her heart and lost to Fate's cruelty. For Elise, this was symbolic of her losing her faith and hope in whatever she had once believed in. As the Joker's unforgiving eyes trailed over her helpless body, she wondered what else there was to put her hope into when everyone and everything she had hoped in and put incessant amounts of faith in was gone, virtually.

"—not too fit," was the only thing Elise heard when she tuned out of her mental wanderings. She adjusted her eyes to clearly see the Joker, whose head was now thrown back in jovial laughter. Much to her surprise, Elise felt confused, even annoyed, at the sight that was in front of her. As she watched the Joker's Adam's apple bob up and down, she pondered morbidly if she could get close enough to him with his own blade and stick him in the place that would make him shut up the most.

Rolling her eyes, Elise asked, "Come again?"

As quickly as the cackling had started, it had stopped just as abruptly with Elise's question. With three steps and the thud of boots on the pavements, the Joker was back at Elise's face, breathing down her neck. Quickly, he tucked away the switchblade into his purple jacket sleeve and instead replaced the blade with each of his hands on either side of Elise's face.

"Now, that's the kind of thing I want to see from you," he stated and before Elise could protest in all of her confusion, the Joker pressed down his lips onto hers, for the third time since her captivity, and lingered there for a matter of least ten seconds. Elise felt her eyes widen in reaction to what had just happened but she knew better than to fight it. Still, two voices fought in head, trying to sway her from one thing, then another.

Elise did not even have time to breath when he pulled away from her. As he pulled away, the green and purple clad villain pulled Elise by her right wrist, around the back of the police vehicle and up to the driver's door. Violently, he swung the door open, revealing a shaking and obviously frightened Lau. He then pulled the little man out of the seat, clutching him by his forearm. The Joker then stretched out his available arm, motioning for Elise to get inside.

Unfortunately for Elise, her body froze, uncertain of what new plan was unfolding and what kind of role she was going to play in it. In this moment, the Joker became impatient and huffed, "Come on, come on, come on! Wasting valuable time here."

In a motion the opposite of Lau's, the Joker aggressively pushed Elise into the front seat of the car and slammed the door right as she maneuvered her fingers out of the door's path to lock shut.

Through the open window, the Joker stuck his head through it and said bluntly, "You're driving," and as Elise opened her mouth to protest, continued, "Nah-ah-ah. I'm giving you directions and you'll go exactly where I tell you to go."

He turned away and proceeded to open the driver's side back door to let Lau in, who would presumably take a seat next to his new master. Violently, the Joker pushed him into the back seat, all the way to the opposite side of the car, where he attempted to be as far away from the towering, threatening man as possible. However, he did not get very far, for the Joker grabbed him by his wrist and pulled him next to him in the middle seat of the police car.

For some odd reason, the gate between the front and back of the squad vehicle had been removed, perhaps due to prior planning, but regardless of the reason, Elise averted her eyes away from the rear view mirror and, shaking as she did so, placed her hands on top of the steering wheel. She simultaneously took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down when in the midst of her actions; Elise felt a cold pressure on the back of her neck.

"Drive," was the only word spoken and the only words after that were directions to the secret location. Elise knew better than to risk her life; she assumed, and knew, that she could lose something, even her own head, if she didn't obey the Joker's demands. Her eyes only saw what was in front of her and couldn't absorb anything else.

After roughly twenty-five minutes of driving, mostly in circles and elongated directions, the Joker finally demanded that Elise stop. When she did, she finally looked around her surroundings and realized that she had driven them to the docks, where Carmine Falcone and her old boss, Doctor Jonathan Crane used to come had exchange and then deliver each other's respective drug shipments.

Moments later, two separate blasts from either side of the city of Gotham sounded out into the empty sky. Like a cat frightened by an expected sound or movement, Elise jumped in her spot and wildly swung her head back and forth, confused as to where to look first for the location of the sound. A few feet from her, Lau had crouched down on his knees and cowered with both of his arms over his head, thinking that something would fall from the sky and injure him, or something of that nature, Elise imagined. The Joker, however, simply stood rooted in his place. His long arms were folded over each other and a bored, sarcastic smile was painted on his face. The sight triggered an image of army leaders, strict and motionless, but she knew better, than anyone really, that the man in her presence was not one to follow any rules but his own.

'_Maybe rules don't exist in the world of someone like that,'_ Elise wondered to herself rapidly, as a million things ran through her head at once.

With a sickening feeling in her stomach, Elise spun around and rounded on the Joker, "Who was in that blast?" she demanded, "Only you would plan something as coincidental as that!" she pointed either finger to each location of the individual blasts; by now, smoke was arising from each location. Thin black smoke illuminated the evening sky, blending with the deeply darkened purple and blue that still remained, even as the sun faded beneath the horizon.

"There is no coincidence here, Miss," a voice, Elise did not expect to answer, answered. Both the Joker and Elise turned away to look at Lau, who was now standing straight up and looked decently collected, more so than he did a minute ago, "In a city like this? No."

The Joker was looking at Elise by the time she had looked back. He only shrugged and added, "The little guy is right," and laughed after finishing the sentence.

Elise sighed, frustrated. Unexpectedly, she was grabbed by the forearm and, as was Lau by the Joker's free hand, was dragged to the run-down building that stood alongside the dock. As her feet struggled to keep up with the nameless man's fast pace, Elise swallowed fear for the infinite time and asked the question she had been dreading to face, "Is Rachel alive?"

By this time, the three had reached the rickety door. At the door, the Joker froze and stared, smiling, at Elise as he shoved the door open. He turned away and asked, "Why so serious?" to Lau as he tilted his head and, in a motion Elise was all too familiar with for some time, hit his prisoner on the back of the neck, immediately causing the man to fall forward onto the ground.

Swallowing, frightened and nervous, Elise looked at the fallen man then turned to look at him again. Her eyes pleaded for an answer, even one she didn't want to hear.

"Plans change, Miss Conway. Did you know that?"

Elise's eyes furrowed in confusion; she did not expect to hear that.

Biting her lip, she responded uncertainly, "Yes, I gathered that before. What does that have to do with Rachel?"

Avoiding her question, the Joker kneeled down and gathered up the crumpled Lau to bring him into the warehouse. He then stood next to the door and jerked his head towards the entrance. Without speaking, Elise walked in.

Just as he walked in, the room went black. Elise screamed, the sudden lack of light taking her by surprise.

Without a sound, Elise felt hot breath on her neck and heard him say, "Everything."

**Alright folks, that sixteen for you! Review, review, review!**

**Oh, and thank you, of course.**


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**So apparently, this is the first time I've updated since September. Well, that thought itself is nearly insane; I didn't realize how busy I was with school and work, but I definitely do now. If you find yourself having to go back and re-read the previous chapters of this story, I understand completely. For those who have already ready 'Illusion' up until Sixteen and are tuning in again, thank you so much. I appreciate it greatly. Now, enjoy and happy reading!**

**Chapter Seventeen;**

The monosyllabic word uttered by the Joker took Elise so by surprise that in the all-consuming darkness, she lost what little sense of equilibrium she had and fell backwards. Holding her breath, she imagined she was in for a slap, a hit or a kick but as she waiting, she felt nothing. Either he was standing as still as a statue or had departed off to his own personal endeavor, continually contributing to his lack of an anarchic plan.

Anarchy and chaos… he had definitely infused chaos into an already mad, disorientated society that was Gotham City. The Batman couldn't save her best friend and he couldn't save all the people that had already perished for finding themselves in the path of the Joker. He couldn't even save her, yet alone himself. The man imprisoning her had made it perfectly clear to the residents of her native town that the only way he'd stop murdering innocents is when Batman reveals himself, shedding his face of the anonymous ebony mask. These drowning thoughts twisted and plagued her mind as Elise began to crawl along the floor she couldn't see. Lightly, she felt around her perimeter and sometimes felt the gentle tickle of some species of bug skitter across her hands and fingers. She made a torn grimace to herself, but refused to be startled and continued to travel via hands and knees.

Suddenly, Elise felt a barrier between herself and the unknown destination. She blindly felt the object in front of her and what encountered her senses made her sick to her stomach. The insides of her stomach began to churn as she came to the realization that the barrier was more than likely a human being, living or deceased, she could not tell.

"Oh, fuck," Elise muttered as she covered her mouth and proceeded to fall backwards on her bottom and crab crawl backwards, away from the person that rested, unmoving, on the floor. She kept on her quick crawling movements until suddenly, a great flood of illuminating light again filling the building. To her, it was almost like déjà vu; the first time she had woken up to the Joker, nearly unbearably bright white light blanketed the entire room and it seemed like forever until her unfamiliar eyes adjusted to the seemingly foreign beams. However, unlike the first time, Elise's eyes did not travel around to take in her surroundings. Her eyes stuck to the unidentified human being that was, not too long ago, blocking her path to explore. Carefully and attentively, Elise visually attempted to check for vitals, most importantly breathing. For a few moments, she watched the chest of the man. From her angle, he looked a bit overweight and stout, with dark brown hair and a fledgling beard and mustache and was wearing a worn black leather jacket. Elise's bruised heart sunk when she realized she could not see his chest move. A voice in her head suggested to her that she try and feel his pulse, whether it be in the wrist or the throat, but another one told her no.

She stuck with the latter of the two consciences.

Elise finally allowed her eyes to drift away from the possibly deceased man and intake the surroundings in her new environment. She already knew from the sights she saw on the tension-filled drive here and by the sound of water crashing against the nearby rocks that she was by the docks. Night had to have settled by now and this she could fathom by the slight breeze that crept through the little imperfect cracks that resided around the building.

'Oh, how'd I'd kill to see the moon,' Elise thought to herself. It was then that Elise felt a presence behind her. For all of her life, Elise was the master of determining that there was another presence in the room, whether it be another person or if the television was on, but on mute. Slowly, she turned, dreading the idea of who it could be. This time, her assumptions proved wrong but the result was just as stunning and unbelievable. In front of Elise was a towering mountain of money, stacks of bundles of green bills that came up to at least twenty feet tall, possibly even higher. Literally, her jaw hung slack like a limp balloon at the sight.

'This is where all of the mob money had to have gone,' Elise finally realized. She had no idea how no one could have figured this out by now, but realized that the docks had been off limits to almost everyone, including police, since the lock up of Carmine Falcone. He didn't help that this had more than likely been a popular hideout for the escapees of the Arkham Asylum break-out more than four months back. The person in possession of the great sum of money had to be a twenty time millionaire, but if she was correct in assuming who reigned over the protruding pile, then it was going to absolutely nothing, positive or negative.

"I'm glad to see scaredy-cat didn't get lost in the dark," a mocking voice drawled from far away behind her back.

Elise almost laughed herself and whispered, "Speak of the devil," quietly so that she thought she was the only one who could hear it, but was proved wrong.

"Ah, yes, I've heard that one before. Gets a little… boring, the same old same old, don't you think?" he asked, still roaming behind her.

Elise never really had a grasp on the proximity between herself and her captor, but got a dose of it when she felt a strong pull from under her armpits. Suddenly, she was raised up high, watching her legs untangle themselves from the pretzel position and was forced to stand weakly on her feet. For some reason unbeknownst to primarily sensible Elise, she did not fight back. No kicking, squirming, punching, scratching or even attempts to bite ensued. Instead, she allowed herself to be touched without opposing thought. Elise assumed her actions did not go unnoticed by the Joker, but whether they did or did not seemed to not matter at that time, because instead of stating something about it, he moved so that he was placed at her right side. The positioning seemed sort of ironic, Elise finding herself at the left hand of the seemingly unstoppable force that, with both dirt crusted hands, took control of Gotham City.

'_It's gone absolutely topsy-turvy…'_

A slight breeze shifted some loose bills as the Joker stated, "The pinnacle of man," undoubtedly referring to the stack of money above him, "All anyone cares about in this world is _money_. Green makes the world go 'round, but… these mob _bozos_… they'd lose their balls for their _god_, money."

As much as Elise hated to agree with him, her mind told her that he had a point. Society danced around money like it was the sun and the earth. Well, she supposed to some it was. It those who had it fed to them on a silver spoon or bathed in it instead of bathwater. Elise found herself strongly disliking people who were not thankful or did not appreciate great things when they were in their possession. It gnawed at her like an itch she simply couldn't scratch. Or just continued to scratch until the wound was raw and bleeding. Then it just healed horribly and left her bitter. She was still paying off for her schooling, as she remembered from her days of just being a normal girl, attempting to obtain a doctorate in psychiatry.

Elise thought she was taking a gamble, but risked it anyway, "Where did this all come from?"

Tilting his head to look at her, the Joker replied, "Y'know, the funny thing about me ripping of mob bosses is that when it comes to _this_," he thrusted out both arms towards the money, "is that they'll do anything to get more or… keep it safe. _Safe_, so they think," a soft giggle slipped out of his mouth, like a joke only her could understand, though Elise thought she was beginning to.

She only nodded in response to that subject. Elise found herself unfamiliarly cold and accepting. Her best friend had supposedly just perished in an explosion not more than a few hours ago and here she was having general conversations with the man who more than likely set up the attempts on the lives of Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes. Then, a raw and hot sensation climbed up from her heart all the way to the very tips of the extremities of her body. At that moment, she wanted answers. Slowly, her head turned and eyes narrowed like a snake's, as she glared at the man responsible.

Seeing her angry expression, the Joker through his faded, sickly colored head back and laughed insanely. He laughed and laughed and laughed until his sides more than likely hurt.

"What the hell happened to Rachel?!" she demanded, whilst the man next to her was still cackling maniacally. No response was offered except for the continuation of laughter and Elise blindly took the opportunity to tackle the man next to her. But always on his guard, the Joker immediately ceased his fit and proceeded to grab Elise by the sides and flip her over so that she landed rough and fast onto the cement ground. With no time to react, the Joker then removed a knife that found its resting place on the inside of his shoe and planted himself on top of Elise, straddling her with his strong, muscular legs.

The two inch blade suddenly rested against tender jugular of her pale, fleshly throat. Elise could feel it press harder against her skin each time she breathed, so she tried to make each breath short and fast. The process all together was becoming extremely painful.

"You see, Elise, it was nothing personal, what happened to your girlfriend and her boy-toy. As you know, I was locked behind bars when that whole little episode took place when I was locked up in your old uncle-boy's MCU. I didn't mean for your girlfriend to die, really. Just sometime I get this a liiiiittle bit mixed up in the head, if you know what I mean," he paused, either waiting for Elise to say something smart or make a struggling move, but neither of the two occurred, "But y'know, those mob guys, they're not always the brightest in the box," he shrugged his shoulders and shook his head simultaneously. Ending discussion, he stood up and dragged Elise up to her feet with him.

His final sentence left Elise dazed and confused. The Joker never said anything without the words having a meaning behind it, so what was the case with these specific ones?

"What…" Elise began to ask but her voice trailed off when she saw the purple and green suited man remove something from one of the many pockets in his coat. It was a collar. Questioningly, Elise cocked her head to the right, not sure what was going on. However, when he walked towards her, hands outstretched and going for her head, Elise began to walk backwards and eventually into the enormous pile of money. She was trapped and had nowhere to go. Elise attempted to stand up, pushing herself off of the money pile, but the Joker simply shoved her back down and brought a heavy foot upon her right arm, the stronger of her two arms, rendering herself almost useless. He then took one gloved hand and pulled back her head, by means of grabbing her hair. With one hand, he managed to clasp the collar around her neck and when the job was done, he retreated, overlooking what he had just accomplished.

He took a breath, cracked his neck and explained, "That would be a shock collar," a quick rummage in his pocket uncovered something else: a device that resembled a remote control, "and this," he gestured to the tool, "will shock you if you try to run away from me."

Although she wasn't instructed to, Elise nodded in understanding. Another investigation of his own pocket revealed a purple and green pocket watch. He tossed it at her, leaving her a few final sentences.

"Be back at midnight, Miss Elise. Get a good beauty rest because tomorrow, we're seeing the doctor," a hideous, outstretched laugh unraveled again as he took Elise by the wrist and dragged her to a door. The metal sheet of a door slid open easily under the strength of the man and with the same force, Elise was pushed out and was greeted by the sight of the blackest water against impure, putrid sand.

Holding the pocket watch her heart, Elise fell to her knees and waited.

No tears came.

**Thank you. Review if you want and if so, again, thank you! **


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**I haven't got much to say for this chapter. I have to shout out to the three who commented on 'Illusion' and to those who tuned in. You guys honestly keep this going strong. It makes me feel on top of the world to hear that I am a good writer and that I can entertain and keep you on the edge. I could live off the feeling, so thank you a bunch.**

**Also, I have this personal goal to make my chapters longer than what they have been the past seventeen or so. We'll see how this goes. I can't promise anything.**

**Finally, I obviously do not own of the characters affiliated with DC Comics. Although if I did, I'd more than likely be making some major bank. I do, however, own Elise Conway and all other characters I conjure up from my imagination. **

**So, without further ado, I give to you…**

**Chapter Eighteen;**

All she could see was water. Forward and to the left, then to the right, there was water everywhere. Of course, if she were to look behind her, Gotham would be laid out in front of her like some virus infected, hellion invaded version of the Emerald City.

In the depths of her deprivation and isolation from the society she had grown to call her own, Elise found herself able to crack a sardonic smile in the cement façade she slowly began to accept. Like the virus that sneakily crept through Gotham like the Black Death, a sort of hopelessness and acceptance injected itself into the virginal blood of Elise Conway. For the rest of her life, she was tainted and impure, marked forevermore by some sort of evil that would linger over her body and soul, like a foreboding black cloud in one of Poe's short stories.

A smaller part of her, the part that once dominated over her subconscious and decision-making, quietly gnawed at Elise to continue hoping and believe that this was not over. She would not perish in the hands of a psychotic murderer, her last impression on the world being that of a lowly single statistic, drowning in the middle of a much bigger picture. It told her that she would never cease to fade into the backdrop of life's major painting. It was persistent in informing her that she would be one of the main attractions, a major player to never be forgotten amongst the presence of others. But to Elise, this conscience sounded desperate.

A little too desperate to convince her.

The ticking of the violet and emerald pocket watch seemed to become more and more boisterous with each passing second. They racketed in her brain like the bells of the Underworld. The river Styx was expansive in front of her and Charon was getting his immortal ferry ready in preparation to carry to her final resting place. She then remembered she was sitting in front of a giant body of water and superstitiously looked out for any sign of a boat. As she had expected, there was no marine traveling vehicle in the water. Elise knitted the core of her face together, wondering who in their right mind would be leisurely scouring the formidable waters that partially surrounded the peninsula that was Gotham City.

Above her head, the crescent moon hung amongst the stars, the beating heart in the ocean of minute diamonds in the sky. The tides, manipulated by the gigantic mass, rolled up the sandy beach and retreated back into the dark depths that wrapped around the city. Sometimes, Elise allowed them to tickle the beginnings of her opal-painted toes, but would hastily bring them back, curling her legs up to her chest. She had to admit that after awhile, a sort of fear and phobia began to sink into her flesh and bone. After all, who sincerely knew what sorts of substances had been disposed of in the lake, especially after the affairs with Falcone and Doctor Crane had unfolded. She then let out an empty, lonely sigh.

'_How am I ever going to live after this?' _Elise thought to herself, _'Even if he lets me go, unscathed and breathing, where will I ever fit in society's mold? How does a person simply continue on and walk down their road after an event this like? Where did my trust in humankind go? My humanity and all of the emotions and workings that make an individual human? Hell, how do I even claim a sense of sanity when this is all over?'_

Inquiry upon inquiry shot through Elise's head, like a firearm that was all too hungry for the taste of a brand new round of bullets. The thoughts were too disastrously tempting for her to let slip by like grains of sand through her fingers, but they chewed at her very essence until her chest literally felt raw and tender. She wondered what the citizens of Gotham thought of her for the events that unfolded her in life; a quick glimpse was already offered to her when she spontaneously imagined it was a fabulous idea to travel over to the MCU. One of the police officers had the nerve to make the claim that she was "in cahoots" with Joker, suggesting that she had something to do with the madness and insanity that was running through the streets and avenues like contaminated, lethal water. With the burden of delightful destruction and cunning chaos still clenched in her tiny fist, Elise clamped both hands tighter together, the sole visible marker of her vehement distress. It wasn't as if she had personally signed over a waver stating she had the desire to find herself in this situation, playing an incessant game of cat and mouse with the most dangerous, yet genius criminal the country, possibly the world, had ever seen.

In the pale, glowing rays of the moon, Elise then caught a glimpse of a stranger in the reflection of the coal-black currents. A reaction that reeked of repulsion and unfamiliarity struck her almost immediately until she rapidly turned her head to glance behind her and discovered no such unidentified being amidst her presence. Cautiously, Elise allowed herself to crawl back to the shore, closer to identify what she had seen, illusion or reality. The dichotomy of the relationship sounded irony in her mind, for it was getting remotely difficult to tell the difference between the two at certain points. But upon closer examination, Elise realized in a sort of sick acceptance that the stranger she had seen was herself, herself as a dirty, unclean, drained and ashen version. Although she had showered just under two days ago, the bomb explosion back at the MCU had left Elise with a chalky dust that had settled within her hair and tinted her skin, resulting in an undead-like appearance. Her lips nearly matched the pallor of her current skin tone, although it was in its first stages of turning to a grayish-blue. Finally, she managed to observe the area she was most terrified of seeing: her eyes. Staring at the marine mirror, Elise sighed in sickly relief as she noticed that, even though they lacked energy and jive, her hazel eyes still contained life and emotion, the very aspects that her captor's black-brown eyes failed to withstand.

A minor stress was alleviated from her shoulders, as she took an optic snapshot of the twilight sky floating above her head. She still had her soul and that was enough to get her through this night. Then, Elise suddenly became aware of the metal object that still rested in her now sweaty palm. She curiously juggled the watch back and forth between her hands, wondering what secrets the little device held, if any.

At that moment, she had an idea.

Pulling out the high necked collar of her green t-shirt, Elise carefully placed the gold chain around her skull and rested in around her neck, just under where the shock collar lay. She couldn't guess if her sneaky gesture would go unnoticed by her harlequin captor or if he would catch her trick in his seemingly endless spider web of crime and punishment. Regardless, she took her chance and stuck with it.

Just as Elise gave the watch one final pat, a rapid and intense pain shot through her entire body. As if she had just been struck by a lightning bolt, Elise collapsed from her kneeling position and began to writhe on the sand. She rolled back and forth as if she was a school-age child attempting to extinguish a fire on their body. This heat, however, was invisible and unbearable. She desperately tried to reach for the origin of the pain: the shock collar on her throat. But each time she touched it, her extremities felt like they were being doused with fuel and fire. A guttural, deep rumble came gushing out of her burning throat, an animalistic plea for help. Her fingers contracted and extended several itches into the glass and plastic filled sand, a failed attempt to ease out the scintillation that sunk into the depths of her being, from the pores of her skin to the nucleus of her body.

"Oh, God, help me!" she screamed out as audible as her strained and seedy voice could allow. White hot tears, nearly equal to the heat being mercilessly pumped into her neck, involuntarily dripped down her already searing countenance. Choking sobs recklessly pumped her chest into convulsions that were simultaneously pulsating there at full force.

Almost as quickly as they had come, the waves of agony suddenly ceased and Elise was left with the rush of gritty, grimy water crawling up her nose and until her lungs. A surprise kick to the back left the dirty matter no choice but to fly back up the same way from whence it came. It left Elise gasping for air as she was forced to cough at the same time. Then, a strong arm fixated her by the shoulder, flipping her over onto the left side, back facing the water.

He had dropped down in front of her, squatting and holding his chin between his two purple leather gloved hands, "D'you wanna know what I learned from God, Elise," the Joker asked mockingly, flashing his seemingly endless vermilion grin at her.

A response wasn't worth the exertion.

Removing one hand from his face and lifting up her chin, he again smiled but did not display his yellowing teeth, "Well, I hate to break it to ya beautiful but, y'know, your _God_, he just, uh, he just doesn't give a _damn_ about you or any of your fellow _citi_-zens out here. He sits up _there_," he gestured, pointing to the sky, "on his _wheeee_ happy chair, watching this world get blown up by guys. Like me."

As his cynical answer concluded, he whooped out an obnoxious cackle, gracing her nose by mere centimeters.

Elise gulped silently, attempting to swallow the excess amount of fear that was lodged in her throat. Once clear, she declared, "I hope He saves you," a statement that sounded more like a feigned and unsuccessful acting job than a strong belief.

A masqueraded face, twisted by costume paint and amazement, possibly amusement, contorted the Joker's face and then all but disappeared as he let out another chain of diabolical resounding chortles. Whilst still attempting to catch his breath, the violet and emerald clad man replied, "I, _m'dear_, have already been saved," he then proceeded to extend his arms forward and tucked them under Elise's dwindling frame and hoisted her up into his full grasp, "And _I_ am going to be saving _you_."

A silent march then took place from the docks to the police vehicle that Elise had just driven only a few hours prior to her subsequent torture episode. She would have made a comparison to the death march of the Jewish people by the Nazis but, obviously, she was not the one marching, starving and slaved, through the harsh European winters, swinging in and out of the swift fingers of Death. But Elise knew her pendulum was swinging and that she had come awfully close more than once before. Right now, she knew it was her faith and her innate hope in people that was keeping her legs moving, both the literal and metaphorical ones.

After what seemed like forever, but was in actuality only a minute, the unusually silent walk had ended and the destination was reached, the squad car splayed out in front her, a decimated and broken down symbol of peace and order amidst terror and paranoia. Still in the Joker's arms, he managed to reach into the unlocked vehicle and hit a button that rested on the steering column. A hollow click sounded near the rear of the car and a draining feeling literally fell upon Elise like leaden blood.

Immediately, she began to wiggle and squirm in the iron-clad hold of the Joker, unsuccessfully attempting to flee from one of her most prominent fears. Being in an enclosed space was like taking a vacuum to the throat and literally sucking out the oxygen from every last crevice of her body. It was like an old cheap horror flick, where the survivors were trapped in a solid cement chamber, where the four walls surrounding them began to come together all around them.

"No!" she screamed, panicky, "Please, don't put me in there! I'll do anything you ask just please do not put me in the trunk of this car," terrified sobs wreaked havoc on her sore chest, "I'm begging you…" her voice trailed off.

"Hmm.." the Joker seemed to contemplate, a crooked and thoughtful expression painted on his face, "Y'know Elise, I'm gunna have to reject that offer." With that, he took Elise and kicked open the trunk, black like the waters not too far from the pair. Elise yelped helplessly as the Joker tossed her into the depths of the pit and spat out one last plea. Shaking his head, the green haired clown clicked his tongue a few times at his prisoner and said, "C'mon, Elise, you psych kids live for this kind of thing, don't cha?" He cocked an eyebrow at her and slowly began to close the barrier between light and dark. Panic threatened to anchor onto her brain, so she closed her eyes, preparing for another level of personal hell to begin. Then, she felt the breeze of an opening door upon her body and hesitantly opened her eyes.

Standing in front her like a master over his slave, with one hand resting on top of the door, he clearly said, "Use your illusion," and slammed the door, shrouding her with darkness and despair, his deceptively gleeful laughter dancing hand in hand with her exposed phobia. Her eyes clamped shut tight, a barrier desperately trying to block out the demons that threatened to possess her soul if she didn't duel them out sooner than later.

A rumbling roar was muffled through the back seat, but the sudden slide backwards confirmed Elise's assumptions that they were off to destination: unknown. Several attempts to fall asleep through encountering her worst fear failed terribly when bumps and potholes were hit rather hard and corners were taken sharper than humanly necessary. Despite this, Elise continued to hold conversations with herself in her head, trying to keep her breathing to a calm level and her eyes tightly shut, her imagination taking her to a different place, far more calming and peaceful that her real life.

Elise was brought out of her trance by a sudden stop that she welcomed by flying forward and knocking her forehead on something hard on the backseat. The pain was dull against her already pounding head, but that discomfort seemed to fade away like mist when a familiar and most anticipated click resounded. Afraid of punishment, Elise did not budge the door open but instead waited for her captor to do so. When he finally did, he picked her up in the same fashion in which he did previously, like a young child or a wounded animal. The thought reeked of irony when she looked up and observed when he had driven her.

They were standing in front of Gotham General Hospital.

"See, Elise? Told ya I was going to save you," he cracked, walking towards the doors of the hospital. Elise remained silent, preferring to not take her chances. She did, however, glance around at her surroundings and noticed absolutely no one out in public at the given hour. The fact confused her at first but then she thought, who would want to be out at this hour, knowing what's going on?

The Joker took advantage of the fact and, when he reached the bottom of the steps leading to the entrance, squatted down and roughly set Elise upon the cold cement stair. Before Elise had a chance to speak, he released the dreadful collar from around her neck and left her with a final cryptic question, "Do I really have to say it?"

The most dangerous man in the country then turned on his heel, the wind kicking up his violet overcoat, the lights of the desolate city illuminated all of the shades and tints that were customary to his appearance. As he took the short stroll back to the police car, the skyscrapers and business towers that were once the center of the city seemed to bow down to the man who had taken it by force with little more than a set of anarchic beliefs and some firepower. As he drove away, the lights seemed to fade just a little bit, but Elise couldn't decipher if it was her mind playing tricks or not.

Even when the car drove out of her line of view, Elise still couldn't tear her gaze away. She wrapped her body against itself and finally closed her eyes, undisturbed by shocks, kicks, turns, bumps or claustrophobia.

**Well, there it is! I know, there is a lot of personal babble and not a great deal of conversation, but I felt that Elise's inner thoughts and struggles had to be put out there in the open. I also get the feeling that I met my goal of making the chapters lengthier than normal and for that, I am quite proud. **

**As usual, reviews are always welcome and even a read is appreciated. Thank you!**


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